Twinkle Twinkle I'm a STAR
by bubblefizz001
Summary: Elite: n, persons of the highest class That's what they were and unfortunately, some would do anything to get there, including pulling the rest of them down. In a world where lies were more important than the truth, you better choose wisely. NXM
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: It's a new story! I'm doing my happy dance, I can't believe it. Thank you for all my supporters~ This is a whole new challenge for me to prove myself as a writer so thank you for those who are starting to read even if it only has one chapter. **

**If ever, I make grammatical errors; I strongly apologize, I will do my best to do better in the upcoming chapters. Just so you know, I have the whole plan in my mind and I just need to write it so, yeah. **

**Disclaimer: I take credit for my stories, nawt for Gakuen Alice. **

Three days.

It was all it took.

Three long days.

I just got expelled in my school just for cutting class for three days. Seriously, what is up with that? Anyway, with much donation from my father, I'll be back in class in no time. I thought as I just got out of the principal's office but not without threatening him of a lawsuit of course.

The clacking of my heels were the only sounds made in the hallways. Everyone else was in their classes. She could bet her friends were gossiping about why she was called. She texted all of them that she was expelled and she was going to have a party at her house later on to celebrate her temporary freedom. Her parents were once again off in some third-world country feeding the poor, it was so nauseating.

They all texted that they were going to be there and forwarded it to all who deserved to be invited and we all knew who they were, we had this list.

The limousine stopped in front of the school's gates as I stepped in with my chauffeur closing the door for me. I arrived home in a few minutes and decided to go shopping for the party later on. I swiftly slipped out of my uniform and rummaged my closer. She put on a DAY Birger et Mikkelsen Night Steal sequined T-shirt and paired it with Karen Walker Belted Swing Skirt with Miu Miu lace-up ankle boots. She looked at the mirror and let out a satisfactory grin.

She decided to just bring the Ferrari as the limo would most likely not fit into the parking lot. She got off right in front of Gucci and bought a pair of platform sandals then headed off to Versace where she tried on a lot of dresses and finally settled for the bold red halter dress. Lastly, she went towards Parfois for accessories. The place was a bit cheap than to what she was used to but if they had gorgeous items then it would do. She bought a black sequined clutch with drop earrings.

She got home and immediately called her party planner, Erin to arrange it within six hours. To a normal planner, this would be too short notice but Erin was used to these abrupt requests that she always had something up her sleeve and if the money paid to her was double then it would be worth the effort.

She took the remaining time to take a long bubble bath then proceeded to call her hair and make-up artist, Elise, who was Erin's sister, to come. She arrived in the estimated thirty minutes as Sakura has just gotten into her silk robe. After much bickering and magazine consultation, she decided for big waves and a few gathered in sort of a puff. They put on thick eyeliner above with nude gloss.

She slipped into the dress she had just bought along with everything she had gotten this morning. She did a quick turn in front of her full body mirror and let loose a satisfactory smile. She looked at the clock and murmured, "Two hours left." She took this time to inspect the room where the party will be held to see if everything was in place. The alcohol bar was fully stocked. There was enough snacks in each table; not that there will be much eating she thought naughtily.

She spoke with the DJ about tonight's playlist and told him to get all the newest songs. He showed her the stuff he'd come up with and it seemed to satisfy her as she gave him a peck on the cheek which got the guy tingling all over not knowing that it was almost an instinct for her to give a kiss as a 'thank you'.

Finally, guests started to pile in. They all told her how nice of a party it was and gave their thanks for inviting them. She gave them a grin in return.

"Mikan!" she heard the squeals of her closest friends from the door. She turned to them and gave all of them a kiss and hug.

"This place is so packed!" Rhode, which was short for Aphrodite, commented as she twirled her blonde hair in excitement.

"Mikan, this is like your biggest party yet!" Zhari said as she jumped in her Jimmy Choos out of excitement.

"Did you actually hire 'Cirque de Soleil' just for this party?" Leona asked in astonishment as she was probably the poorest one among the group, barely getting in because she was smart and model-pretty with her brunette hair and six feet height.

"Yeah, why wouldn't she? When Mikan here parties, there can't be anything worth insulting." Stacy replied confident in their alpha's superiority.

Mikan took all these compliments in stride. She led them to the V.I.P. table which was above everything else so they could see everything that was happening and have the most gossip to tell tomorrow. She knew that her parents would be coming home tomorrow and all this would be cleared by the end of the week. She couldn't help but smile at how life just loved her and she had to say, she loved it back.

"OMG, is that Ray making out with Gina? Ewww, I thought they broke it off two months ago. Talk about desperate?" Stacy said as she pointed out the couple in the middle of the dance floor.

"Make sure she isn't invited to our next party hun." Mikan said as she looked at the girl in disgust. Ray was hot so they couldn't take him out, he'll just have to find another girl to play with.

"Done." Zhari replied as she erased her name from her contacts. There was nobody in their contacts that didn't deserve to be there or else her rep would be soiled.

She decided to walk towards the bar and order an apple martini. She brought it back up more quickly than she was expected because there was a long line but since it was her party, they all made way for her.

"I can't believe she's throwing a party over expulsion. That's like a bad thing right?" Rhode asked as she was checking her nails out.

"Oh please, she throws a party every chance she gets, I guess that's her only way of staying at the top." Leona commented as she didn't want to get kicked out for siding with the girl who only treated her as a sidekick or someone to copy homework off.

"Totally, how can a queen bee stay single for a year? I bet she hasn't found anyone who has enough patience to put up with all her prissiness." Stacy said as she always felt envious of the seemingly perfect girl.

She dropped her martini as the glass shattered and made a sound loud enough for the five girls to hear. Their eyes turned in her direction and she wished she had a camera to capture their priceless expressions. She took a look at Zhari who hadn't said anything but didn't deny any of their statements either.

"You five, get out." She said in such a menacing tone that brought shivers to them and if looks could kill, they probably wouldn't be recognizable now.

They all scrambled to their feet, scared out of their lives as they clumsily ran towards the exit knowing if they resisted, the bouncers would throw them out and they couldn't afford anymore humiliation as the crowd looked that the four as they exited and turned to Mikan who had a victorious smirk on her face as they continued with the party knowing that it will be the last time those four would see a Mikan Sakura party.

As she sat alone on the table, ignoring all the cat calls and invitations to dance, she saw that it really was lonely at the top. She tried to keep up the confident façade but inside she was breaking down. Friends were one of the only things she had that couldn't be bought, her family was always gone and even though she was independent, she was still attached to the four somehow.

The party just seemed flavorless for her at that point so she locked herself in her room until it ended as the cleaners came to fix the mess teenagers always seem to make. She had a comfortable sleep and woke up early to welcome her parents.

She took a timed shower, making sure she took less than an hour and rushed into her Armani maxi dress and DKNY sandals with a wide brim hat as they always went out once her parents arrived from somewhere outside the country which was at least once a month.

She rushed down the stairs the moment she heard the sound of a car pull into their enormous driveway. The doors opened as she prepared the biggest smile she can muster as their steps echoed and their face finally came into view.

Wait.

Wait just a moment.

She thought as she saw both their faces seemingly disappointed and their eyes both directed towards her. She couldn't believe it after all she had done to welcome them so early in the morning. Well, it was already lunch time but still.

"What's the matter?" she asked straightforwardly.

"What's the matter?" her dad asked loudly and furiously. "You got expelled from school and threw a big party? Don't you see anything wrong with that?" her dad said in a softer voice but anger still evident in it.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as she suddenly felt guilty. "I just wanted to cheer myself up. I promise I won't do it again." She said with half the sincerity needed.

"Oh you bet it won't" her dad concluded as he stalked off to who knows where.

"So when are you enrolling me back?" she asked her mom who was more patient with her.

"What?" her mom asked, with a bit of confusion in her voice.

"When will you talk the principal into getting me back to South High?" she said in a clearer way.

"Oh, honey. We haven't told you the good news!" her mom said gleefully but there was a bit of worry being concealed in her statement.

"What is it?" she asked hesitant to hear the answer. She looked down at her feet and hoped it did not involve 'move' and 'country' that they had repeated to her twice in her sixteen years of existence. Her sandals suddenly seemed to look so interesting right now.

"We're moving back to Japan!" her mom replied in joy, hoping it wouldn't cause another mental breakdown like last time.

"What?" I yelled in shock.

"We've been talking about it for the past month already because your dad has been having a hard time here and in Japan he gets the same salary but is given less stress and work." My mom explained as if hoping that would calm me down.

"No, this CANNOT be happening!" I yelled in frustration as I stomped off to my room with my mother doing her best to catch up but had a hard time in her Bianca pumps. I immediately slammed the door and threw myself onto my bed.

She screamed into her pillow contemplating on what will be happening. It took her two years to gain everything she had now and they were just going to take it away from her without any second thoughts. That was deliberately cruel, they couldn't do this so suddenly. Who did they think they were, Obama? The popularity she had here was nothing compared to anything she's ever dreamed of. Her eyes started watering as she thought of how much she was going to lose.

She heard a knock on her door and before she could scream 'Go away', the door was already opened and her mother stood there with sympathetic eyes. She sat beside her in the bed and put a hand on her shoulder which she flinched away from. She didn't want her mom hurt, she just couldn't get used to the idea of moving.

"Honey, why do you find it so hard to move?" her head was overloading with answers and have of them were not parent friendly so she fought to find a way to make it understandable to her mother.

"Because here, I have a life."

"Are you scared that you won't make friends?"

"It will be elementary over again." Sakura said with a sigh and a tear fell but her mom wiped it as soon as it came.

"Mikan, you're a Sakura. Once you go there, you'll make even more friends. " Her mom said in a convincing tone.

"You think so?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

"I know so." She said as she gave her a kiss on the cheek and left the room leaving her feeling more rejuvenated than ever. She was going to have a clean slate and she was going to show all of those students in that academy that she was not one to be messed with.

With that, she was now sitting in front of her sixth and last suitcase as she put her Cavalli's and zipped up the suitcase and stared at their now empty house. She really was doing this, she was going to start from zero and it was going to be one hell of a ride.

She was finally on the plane after a few hours of finishing packing and clearing things around. She stared out the window as her view was suddenly filled of buildings unknown to her in a language she hasn't used in awhile.

As she got out of the airplane, she looked out and found the airport's big sign, Welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey, second chapter guys! Thank you for the reviews!**

**I had a stressful week as it is my second. I feel so accomplished that I was actually able to finish this in record time. I have geometry homework that is just so stressful but I shall finish. **

**So, yes, I hope for your support throughout this story. I will try to make my updates as constant as possible even when things go busy.**

**Review please~**

_Recap_

"_You've changed." Hotaru commented._

"_What? Well, yeah I guess. I mean before I was this ugly chubby kid who ate any chocolate she could get her hands on. I'm pretty sure I'm not as pudgy." She said proudly._

"_Not just that, personality wise too." She muttered as she stared at the piles of clothes the maid still had to arrange in her closet. _

_They toured the house and was amazed to find a game room, a tennis court, a swimming pool and small separate house for the maid's quarters. Finally, they settled for tea in the gazebo. She rang the bell as a maid served them milk tea in those porcelain tea cups. They caught up with one another though Mikan kept hidden what she thought remained better to be._

"_So you're going to Gakuen Alice, I suppose?" Hotaru asked._

"_Probably, I haven't gotten much details about education." She replied as she took a sip. _

_Finally, Hotaru left and she was left to dwell on what to do. _

_End of recap_

She breathed in the new air and it felt good. Her whole body shivered in anticipation and she was pretty sure it wasn't the cold weather considering the Burberry trenchcoat she had on at the moment. She jumped in her Jeffrey Campbell boots as she did her best to stay positive. The limo just stopped in front of her as they took all her luggage along with her parents as she entered and the air condition proved to be a lot colder than anticipated as she chattered her teeth and her parents turned it into the heater as they seemed to feel the freezing too.

"Is that a Sakura tree?" her mom asked giddily as they hadn't seen one in the longest time. She looked towards it and could see why she was so amazed. It truly was a flabbergasting sight.

Finally they stopped in front of tall iron gate that opened in the next few seconds. The house just left her breathless. It was a flawless white with a Greek theme to it. There were gold boulders and as the limo came to a halt at the entrance, the grand foyer just rendered her speechless. The marble tiles went along so well with the pristine white walls.

Before I knew it, I was in my new room that had these crème walls with velvet red curtains. My canopy bed was just beautiful and the whole room just deemed fit for a princess. My luggage was being stored into my huge walk-in closet that was double the one I had before which meant, more shopping. I plopped down on my bed and gave a grin of satisfaction.

"Honey, can you come down for one moment?" my mom said as I got up and skipped down the stairs to find her mom standing beside a girl who looked her age with this jet black hair in a pixie cut. She was currently wearing an Elie Saab grey blazer with a with a Givenchy animal print top matched with jeans and gold sandals. She did her best to recall that familiar face, then it clicked.

"Hotaru, oh my gosh, is it really you?" she asked disbelievingly. After all, the last time they saw each other, they were still seven but she still retained some features and had those apathetic amethyst eyes that seemed to pierce through you.

"The one and only." She replied stoically. She ran down to hug her knowing she wouldn't push her away with her mom there. Instead, Hotaru just settled for a whisper of "baka" in her ear.

She pulled away and gave her a smile as she led her to her new and ah-mazing room.

"Isn't this amazing?" she asked as she spun around.

"What is?"

"This house." she stated.

"You've changed." Hotaru commented.

"What? Well, yeah I guess. I mean before I was this ugly chubby kid who ate any chocolate she could get her hands on. I'm pretty sure I'm not as pudgy." She said proudly.

"Not just that, personality wise too." She muttered as she stared at the piles of clothes the maid still had to arrange in her closet.

They toured the house and was amazed to find a game room, a tennis court, a swimming pool and small separate house for the maid's quarters. Finally, they settled for tea in the gazebo. She rang the bell as a maid served them milk tea in those porcelain tea cups. They caught up with one another though Mikan kept hidden what she thought remained better to be.

"So you're going to Gakuen Alice, I suppose?" Hotaru asked.

"Probably, I haven't gotten much details about education." She replied as she took a sip.

Finally, Hotaru left and she was left to dwell on what to do. She made a list in the plane of all her gorgeous traits. She repeated it once again in her head. As she was taking her night shower, she played "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. She got into her silk pajamas and as she stared in the ceiling anxious for tomorrow, slowly fled to dreamland.

The next morning she woke up to the steady beating of her alarm clock and as she got up, she looked into the mirror and found her hair sticking out in all directions which made her head towards the bathroom a lot faster. She got into the tub and let it soothe her jittery nerves and slowly she felt it. She was just about to fall asleep once again until she saw the clock which read that she barely had half an hour. She got out and fixed her hair in a messy bun with some stray locks framing her face knowing it made her look adorable.

She opened the door to her closet and was faced with a dilemma on what to wear. She tried on multiple outfits, one including a pair of heinous rainbow leggings that was a gift. Finally, she sat down and tried to look at the closet one by one. In the end, she was finally able to settle on a Theory navy blue collared blouse with an adorable pair of high waisted shorts from Marc Jacobs with Alexander McQueen studded ankle boots. She gazed at her reflection and thought there was something missing. Finally, she grabbed these gold set of bangles from her accessory cabinet and went down for breakfast.

"Good morning dear, are you ready for school?" her dad asked. She was so thankful that he had forgiven her after feeling guilty of not telling her of the move. She gave him a nod of approval as she finished her last bit from her waffle. As she was hopping out the door, her dad yelled a "Take care!" in which she smiled as she headed out to her BMW and the view of the golden house slowly disappeared.

In a few minutes, she saw a big iron gate and thought about how similar it was to her home. The gates opened as they slowly drove in. inside, there were a lot more cars, some cost more than hers. The school in itself stood so prestigiously with a big door that just seemed so inviting yet scary at the same time. This was it. She decided to stare at the people entering to see that most dressed casually. Most of them looked rich but not as much as her, she cockily noted. This was going to be as easy as pie.

She got out slowly as if to build tension, put her million dollar smile and faced the crowd. A lot of stares generated as some guys unconsciously blushed and girls immediately glared daggers. Oh yeah, she was back. She did her best not to show any signs of being nervous as she strutted into the entrance. The path divided into two as instant respect was given. It was quite obvious that she was someone and a someone that wasn't supposed to be messed with.

She approached a cute looking guy that just gawked once she stopped in front of him.

"Excuse me, do you have any idea where the principal's office is? I need to get my schedule." She said with her helpless look that just made a lot more guys approach to volunteer. They all gladly led her to the office where the secretary gave her schedule. She was on her way to her first class when she noticed a familiar face.

"Hotaru?" she asked with a smile. She was currently talking to a pretty pink haired girl and a adorable blue-haired one.

They simultaneously stared at her as if she was some other being. She glanced back with the same happiness she started off with.

"Mikan." Hotaru said emotionless.

"What do you have for first period?" she asked hoping they had the same because inside, she was dying to have someone to talk to.

"Homeroom with Narumi-baka." She replied.

"That's great, I have the same ones to." Finally she turned to the two other girls as she gave them a friendly smile she had mastered as she introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Mikan Sakura." As she did so, she felt some swooning going on around her, she let out an inner triumphant smirk.

"Hi, I'm Nonoko Ogasawara." The blue haired girl said with a smile.

"Hi, I'm Anna Umenomiya, please to meet you." She said in a radiant grin.

They walked together to their first class while the two chattered continuously, Mikan only catching about half of what they were saying. Finally, they came to a halt as the door said 'Homeroom 1' which was what her schedule said. They all entered first as she was to stay at the door waiting to be introduced. Her heart was pounding as she did her best to push back all those insecurities she's been feeling and stood there proud.

In less than a minute, the teacher entered with a smile. He greeted the class very eagerly and they greeted back, well at least some. Finally, he motioned her to come in because of the many shouts from the students, mainly the male population, were forcing him to already let her in.

She plastered her 'unique' heart-breaking smile as she took calculated steps with a sway in each one. Finally, she faced the class as she proceeded to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm Mikan Sakura. I'm a transfer student from America. I haven't been to Japan since I was seven so I hope you take care of me!" she said enthusiastically with a bow. She brought her head back up and stared at the class in general. There were a lot of cat calls along with questions she'd rather not answer so she decided to just give them a secretive smirk which made them melt all the more.

"I'd rather not say." She replied.

Still, they persisted with the hooting of "You're so hot!" "Be my girl!""Call me!" and the weirdest one yet, "Visit me in my dreams!" Outside she seemed to be careless of the situation but she was jumping in happiness inside as it seemed that she was well-like already, even if it is just by the guys.

Suddenly, all the noises stopped and she got nervous that something might have happened to her face or maybe she unconsciously did something disgusting. Luckily, her guesses were wrong as she turned to the side and saw two very hot guys walking into the classroom.

The first one looked a lot like the guys she dated in America, except a whole lot hotter. He had these amazing blue eyes that seemed so debonair with blonde hair that was arranged to look as neat as it possibly can but not to the point of seeming like a nerd. He was a bit taller than her and as he entered, he stared at her for a second or more as she gave him a smile and he let out a blush in return.

The next one was even hotter, even as it seemed impossible. He was like Adonis, at least that was what she felt the god should look like. He had this piercing ruby eyes that seemed to look right through you with messed up raven hair that just made him look so bad. He was wearing a leather jacket with a pair of dark wash jeans. Unlike the blonde guy, he completely ignored her and passed by as if she wasn't there which made her huff inside. How could he ignore her so easily? She thought as she knew she looked at least pretty at the moment.

Finally, Narumi cut the tension. "Okay, Mikan because you are new you need a partner."

"Will I be able to choose?" she asked hoping she could get the blonde one as he seemed nice and hot which was a rare combination.

"Unfortunately, you won't because most students already have partners." He looked at the class list. "Actually, there's only one person left without a partner." He noted.

In her mind the only thing going on 'Please don't let it be some weirdo. Please don't let it be some weirdo. Please don't let it be some weirdo.'

"That is," he said stopping as if to make her feel the suspense. "Natsume Hyuuga. Natsume, please raise your hand."

She wanted to close her eyes before anything but he beat her to it. Suddenly, the hot guy who totally dismissed her raised his hand, barely and lazily. Now her thoughts changed into, 'Let it be some weirdo. Let it be some weirdo. Let it be some weirdo.'

The question you'd probably raise is, why? He was obviously gorgeous and popular so why the hesitation? Here it is, he obviously wasn't interested in her so if they sat together, people would be watching and if they see that he thinks she's not worth the time, then they'd think so too as they clearly respected him and his opinions.

Still, she kept the smile on her face as if not bothered at all by the horrid decision. She walked towards him in an almost slow pace as if awaiting her doom, which in her opinion, she was. She stopped in front of her seat beside him and slid into it with the most ladylike manner she could muster.

She put her bag underneath her desk and looked forward not bothering to introduce herself to the guy beside her.

"As we discussed yesterday…"

The rest of the class was a blur as she just did her best to stay put and look in front knowing that there was always someone watching. It was a bit tiring but she thought it was worth it. Finally, after what seemed like hours of sitting straight, the bell rang and she immediately got up before she felt a hand on her wrist.

She was afraid to look but she had no choice. She gazed into those piercing eyes that seemed to read her in the mere seconds he had his eyes on her.

"You left your notebook." He said as her gaze turned to the desk where her polka dot notebook lay. She quickly grabbed it, not bothering with the thanks and rushed out the door to her second class.

The hours flew by quickly and before she knew it, lunch came. Her worst part of the day, if you're a new student that is. She left everyone go ahead of her as she contemplated if she should sit with Hotaru since she didn't seem to warm up to her as much as the other two.

She took a deep breath and entered the noisy cafeteria as she headed to the line where a lot of boys offered for her to go ahead. She gave them her smile in return as she easily got in front. Maybe she should've declined as to give more time to think. Suddenly and most definitely unexpectedly, someone cut in front of her.

Someone who from her view, had strawberry blonde hair and perfectly manicured nails. It was common sense, this girl was the queen bee. Finally, she had been waiting to meet her all day. Of course, she knew that it wouldn't be a high school if there wasn't anyone already ruling it.

"Excuse me, but you cut in front of me without any permission." She said with as much sass as possible.

"Honey, you must be new." The girl said with an insulting laugh. "I can cut when I want, where I want so why don't you just back off." She replied with a smirk.

"What will you do if I don't?" she asked with her own smirk, a much better one at that.

"Trust me you wouldn't want to know." The blonde threatened.

"You're messing with the wrong girl." She said as she grabbed the pasta in the tray beside her and dumped it on her head, to the very last meatball.

"Ahhh! How dare you do that, bitch! I just had my highlights and you do this!" she squealed and Mikan was sure that by now, the whole cafeteria was looking. She gave a triumphant smirk until she saw the girl's hands quickly reaching to slap her face. As she closed her eyes at the impact, she thought of how stupid she was.

After a few seconds, she still hadn't felt anything. She took a peek only to find Natsume's hand on blondie's wrist. She stared at him in shock while he just kept a poker face.

"Some people are trying to have a peaceful lunch." He said as he dropped the hand and walked away.

She followed him out of the cafeteria as he turned around and finally took notice of her. "What do you want?" he grunted.

"I just wanted to say thank you." She said with 'gratitude'

"You don't belong here. I suggest you go back to where you came from and never come back." He said as he walked away leaving her dumbfounded.

She couldn't believe him. In that moment, she knew she was going to prove him wrong by all means. No matter what it took her she would do everything to do so.

She was going to fucking rule this school.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: OMG, guys if you noticed the recap in the previous chapter was it's end. It's like a major major mistake, sorry! If ever you didn't notice, I bet you're going back right now to see it ;) **

**Anyway, yeah I updated just in time! And I also wanted to request more reviews because I only got two in the past two chapters, it's really sad. I stopped the whole 'I won't update until I get x no. of reviews' thing, realized it was forceful and annoying so if ever, review if you have any reactions in this chapter (even violent ones)**

**So, yeah ENJOY!**

She walked back into the cafeteria with her head held high. She knew all eyes were on her, whether it was because they hated her or respected her, she didn't give a damn. At the very least she got what she wanted since she came here, attention. She looked at the vast crowd whose stares were mostly of disbelief that she still had the guts to come back in.

She found the slut talking to this teacher who she believed she had for math, Jin-jin, wasn't it? She walked up to them with the most innocent smile she can give as she looked to see what they were talking about.

"You?" the girl said pointing an accusing finger towards her. "She was that slut who threw this pasta on me!" she squealed in anger.

"Language Ms. Koizumi! For that, you earn a week's detention. You know how we don't tolerate foul language at this school. As for you Miss Sakura," he said turning to her. "I will be watching you very closely." He said as he walked out and the two were left to face one another.

Once it was sure he was gone, "" stuck her middle finger in her face as she and her just appeared posse stalked off. She was left to go to the empty line and finally get some lunch. As she finished, she knew everybody was watching to see where it is she was going to sit, she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her eat on the floor so she headed to Hotaru's table where she raised a suspicious eyebrow her way.

She looked at Anna and Nonoko and they sent her a smile so she took that as a go and pulled open a chair. She set her tray down and started to eat. Both of them just stared at her like I was some unknown species. She looked at their half finished meal and noted, "You do know it's rude to stare."

They both started apologizing profusely and she just smiled at their cute antics.

"It's fine, why is everybody so curious though?" She said about the cafeteria trying to seem to be uninterested but was totally staring at their table.

"Because nobody's ever had the guts to do that." Anna said in awe.

"Why not?" I asked. In my previous school, the rulers changed as quick as I changed clothes. I had only been ruling for a month there and I already felt it was coming to an end.

"Luna has a very powerful family." Nonoko explained, almost fidgeting. "Her family ranks as one of the top five richest in Japan. Her parents spoil her to no end. She gets everything she wants." She then stopped as if to ponder on something. "Well, almost everything. She's always wanted Hyuuga-san but he's about as asexual as I am straight."

"Ah, so what's her rank among that top 5?" she asked curious.

"5th but still, that's still high. I mean, it's the whole country!" Anna explained thinking about it. Her family was just in the upper twenty and she pretty much got things she asked for. She wondered just how rich Luna was.

Mikan gave a smirk and while the two seemed confused as on how that seemed like that was a good thing but Hotaru explained it for them, "Mikan's family is third in Japan with her dad's discovery at cures and his philanthropic acts and her mother's fashion designing business that is awaited every season in Paris fashion week, it's no surprise."

They looked at her in even more admiration as they almost couldn't believe she existed.

"So you are richer than her?"

"A lot richer, we have a pretty big gap if you base it on the millions." She said cockily as she twirled her fettuccine with her fork.

"What happened between you and Hyuuga outside?" she asked.

"Nothing, his normal asshole syndrome acting up." She replied remembering and her body suddenly feeling the annoyance she was overcome with when he talked to her awhile ago.

"It's better to stir away from him." Hotaru warned.

"Well, you don't need to tell me. But it gets me curious as to why though." She noted. He seemed like one of those emo guys that defended themselves by saying they're 'misunderstood'.

"He's dangerous." She simply said. I looked at the other two for a better explanation and they replied.

"Well, there has been a lot of rumors involving him. One of which, is that he deals 'you-know-what'. He also smokes a lot in school and he barely attends half his classes." Anna noted with a warning undertone to the statement.

"I thought such an elite school would prohibit smoking." She said with annoyance.

"It does, but he does his best to go by unnoticed and the teachers pretend to be totally clueless too." Nonoko said obviously showing how unfair she found it to be.

"Why?"

"Because his family is even higher up than you Sakura-san," Nonoko said. Suddenly, her throat felt dry. "The Hyuuga Corporations rank second with their law firm. I heard he's the black sheep of the family, which is bad for them considering he's the only heir." Nonoko said feeling bad for his parents.

"Wow, who actually ranks the first?" she asked, assuming that person went to this school.

"It's a total mystery. They pay the paparazzi so much as to keep their identities a secret. Plus, I heard the people who even tried were 'exiled' from Japan. I didn't even know that was still possible." Anna said with a bit of fear in her voice. She was a bit interested to know but not enough to risk getting kicked out of her homeland.

"Well, that's weird. But on to lighter topics, do you guys want to come by my house today?" she'd been meaning to give them a makeover, both physical and personality wise.

"Sure!" they said in sync in excitement. Hotaru gave a barely there nod and they proceeded to plan for activities they could do later on.

"OMG, we can have a complete makeover!" Mikan squealed which was her plan ever since she met them. It wouldn't be much of a challenge, they just needed a bit of touching up and well they're a lot less bitchy than all the girls she hung out with in America which meant less betrayal chances. As much as she did her best to stay unaffected, she had slight trust issues because of that whole event.

"Yeah, that would be awesome!" Anna said in excitement. She was glad to have made a new friend and though she seemed to have anger management issues, she seemed pretty cool and she had the most amazing style and was real pretty.

"Well, we have to get going. My next class starts in ten minutes and I still need to find it." She said as she picked up her bag and getting up from the cafeteria bench as the rest of them followed her out. She was back, that much she knew. It was her first day here and she already had people following her meaning her progress was pretty good.

Aside from the whole Hyuuga debacle, she was going to be just fine. She got to her locker where she looked at her schedule and found Chemistry next. She got the book and turned to the three wherein Hotaru seemed to be engaged in doing something with her laptop.

"Do any of you have Chemistry next?" she asked in hopes at least one would. She didn't want to walk in all alone, it was almost demeaning. Her only consolation was that she was a new student so she could make that as the perfect excuse.

"I do." Nonoko said with a smile. They walked together as Nonoko shared her love for the subject and her passion to be a chemist. Mikan found this helpful for upcoming assignments and interesting as it was a pretty unique ambition in high school, at least. They entered only to be faced by one of Luna's skanks.

"Oh look it's that bitch that disrespected Luna." The redhead in a super tight leather skirt and tank top mocked as she rolled her eyes once she saw her.

"Oh look, it's that whore that doesn't have her own identity so she settled for Koizumi's dirty one." Mikan sneered back as she proceeded after Nonoko and sat beside her staring at the glaring girl standing in front with a cocky smirk.

The teacher entered, introduced himself as Misaki-sensei. She got a bit bored and started doodling in her notebook. By the time the class was done, she had a whole page filled with random comebacks in different font in each one. She found it cool so she ripped off the page and put it in her random box of stuff she wanted to keep.

Nonoko, on the other hand, had two pages of notes that just seemed absurd to her. They got out and separated for the next class which mostly consisted of tenth graders but she didn't take this in America so she was forced to take it here. Of course, the subject was Japanese. She entered to see all eyes on her as they all seemed to fear her or hate her as they moved away slowly.

She went to the back seat where there was a vacant seat in the desk with three chairs. Unfortunately, the two sitting beside her seemed like misfits. The first one had decent black hair and crimson eyes like Natsume but had these huge glasses that barely made you see them. She wore a baggy shirt and cargo pants and looked like a mechanic, in a bad way.

The second one wore had her hair in high pigtails with scrunchies which so did not suit her brown hair and wore these cheetah poncho with a pair of sweats. She had pretty blue eyes but the outfit totally made her eyes nothing as she seemed just as, if not worse, as the girl beside her.

Instantly, her heart welled up and she felt the need to reach out to the two. As to why, well the reasons are still unknown. She also couldn't take being in this class the whole year and having to sit beside such poor excuses of girls so she immediately put a whole plan in her mind which she thought was her way of giving back because of all the fame she had been getting.

When, she sat down, the two seemed to freeze as if waiting for the completely disgusted insult that they felt was coming their way. Instead, she gave them a smile and both wondered if this was a trick and she had a conniving thought up her sleeve.

"Hi, I'm Mikan Sakura. Gosh, who knew introducing yourself would be so tiring? I seem to be doing this the whole day and barely anyone still knows my name." she said with a melodic laugh that just made you want to laugh along with her.

The whole class stared in disbelief as she started a conversation with the outcasts. Their calculating gazes found the whole thing to look quite true and not just some act. They all couldn't believe someone who seemed as 'perfect' as her would take to this 'things'. They all sent glares to the two as the whole class passed by so quickly and it seemed like the conversation only made things worse for them as now, even the guys hated them.

After class, she stayed behind with them and told them she wanted to talk with them. They reached a secluded stairway as she finally proposed her deal.

"If I'm not mistaken, you two are outcasts, am I right?" she asked not bothering to consider whether they'd take it offensively or not.

"I guess." The brown haired one admitted meekly. The black haired one nudged her as if to say they shouldn't admit defeat so easily.

"Okay, even if you shouldn't have said so quickly, I have a proposition to make." She said with an almost evil smile that villains give to fellow villains in movies.

"It involves two syllables, makeover." She said with a smile hoping to god they wouldn't resist.

"Why would you do this for us? It's not like you owe us anything." The crimson eyed girl asked suspiciously.

"I don't owe you guys directly but let's just say it's my way of giving back. Anyway, I've already told you who I am so why don't you guys introduce yourselves to me?" She offered.

"I'm Sugiyama Ai. I'm in tenth grade." She said with a bow.

"I'm Hyuuga Aoi. And yes, I'm Natsume's sister and no, I will not give you his number." She said with confidence in herself that reminded Mikan a bit of herself.

"Well, it' nice meeting you Ai and Aoi. And yes, I do want to give you two a makeover and no, I don't want your brother's number." She said looking at Aoi with a smile.

"Okay, tonight I will be holding my first of the many that are to come, sleepover party. I've already invited three people and I'm extending two more for the two of you. I promise you it will be absolutely fun!" she said as encouraging as possible.

Aoi seemed to be very hesitant but Ai sent her a desperate glance so she gave her hand out, "Okay, but I have a few rules myself." She said.

"Rule away." Mikan said.

"First, no pranks. Even just one, no matter how small, we'll be leaving. Second, this whole makeover thing, specify because if there is some fine print there that will end up making us look worse, then no thank you. Third and last, you should have a whole stack of sleepover food. I'm not planning on starving if ever you're the anorexic type."

"Okay, no pranks. I promise you after this makeover, you will not recognize yourselves, in a good way. And, I eat a lot you know; I luckily have pretty fast metabolism." She said as she shook the hand in approval to seal the deal.

"Departure!" she yelled in ecstasy. She got into the Hummer which she specifically asked for so they could all fit. They were all dropped off at their mansions and she gave them two hours to prepare before they will go to her house. They all received a text from her with her address in it.

Meanwhile, she spent those two hours fixing her room by finding the sleeping bags and placing them on their carpeted floor. She also made sure her mini fridge was filled just to make sure, because of Aoi. She sat on her bed and made a long list of good fashion choices for each of her newly made friends. She knew Hotaru didn't need it and she would definitely refuse so she decided that Hotaru would just help her in giving it.

She jotted down the colors that matched them and some personality development tips. She had the least personality changes with Aoi but she also had the longest list for fashion don'ts. Finally, she looked at the time to see she barely had fifteen minutes left. She rushed to her closet and deciding she was just at home, she settled for a baby pink camisole and beige shorts from Opening Ceremony with her favorite furry panda slippers that barely anyone got to see but she needed to establish familiarity and she decided this was one way of doing so.

Finally, Hotaru arrived first. She told her of her plan and she agreed to help with a bit of a price, of course but nothing money robbing to Mikan at least. The others came piling in and she felt happy to have gathered such a diverse set of people.

"Okay, the moment you stepped into the Sakura mansion, you automatically enrolled to the MS Change Boot camp!" she said trying to sound tough in panda slippers.

She made a wicked grin at each and every one of them that made almost (except Aoi) pee their pants/shorts/skirts or whatever it was they were wearing.

"Let us begin."

**A/N: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW **

**IF YOU DON'T GET IT, BLEH :P**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Time for my awesome updates! Hey, so I've been updating every Saturday but I'm thinking of just doing it every other because I'm going to be busy with choir since I got in! We have a performance next month and I'll be practicing every Saturday so yeah, I just might do that. The good thing about that is that I'll be able to make longer chapters. **

**I have no problem at all with the plot considering I've already got chapter 15 planned, it's just a matter of actually writing, rather typing it that I might have a problem with. **

**Anyway, tell me in your reviews if you'd prefer a weekly update or an every other week one. Thanks! **

They all stared in horror at the tray in front of them filled with materials she'd be planning to use. Tweezers, waxing pack, nailcutter, different kinds of hairstyling scissors, curling irons, straightening irons and some they have never seen before. They were all given a seat where they were tied down, thanks to Hotaru, with mirror behind them to see themselves after all this.

"Okay, so let us start with Phase One: Face Makeover. You see, they say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder so everyone need to see that beauty. Your face represents who you are so you need to take care of it. After all, youth doesn't last forever so you need to make the most out of it now." Mikan said while holding stick as if teaching.

She showed them various tips they needed to do everyday to ensure the perfect skin. "First of all, wash your face every day or twice, if you have the time to remove all the dirt that's gathered through the day because I am telling you, will be a lot."

"Hey, are any of you taking this down?" she asked as they all turned to stare at their tied down arms. "Fine, Hotaru let them go. And, can you get five notebooks on the green drawer, the ones that come with pens? Okay, now that you do; you have to take down every tip I give because I promise you it will be helpful to you until you die." She said with a smile.

"Second tip, always cover your lips. What I mean is, always have something like lip gloss or if you don't find that appealing, lip balm. The lips have one of the thinnest skin in the body so it need extra protection. To start off, I'm giving you each lip balm, they come in five flavors so you choose." A tray was placed in front of them. Anna took vanilla, Nonoko took cherry, Ai took apple cinnamon and finally Aoi got melon.

"Okay, last tip. I'll still give you others from time to time since we still have a lot to do. I know you have at least heard this five times from your parents but now, this is coming from me and I probably know more about this than them; eat fruits and vegetables. They give you vitamin a and c which are antioxidants which are good for you, get the analogy?" she says.

"Now, put your notebooks aside as it is time for the hair and makeup sub-phase. Hotaru let them in." she said as the grand doors were opened and four women walked in, with the same outfit that consisted of white button ups and black pencil skirts with pumps. They all had edgy hairstyles and behind them were carts filled with make-up.

"So yes, these are my mom's make-up artists during her fashion shows while Hotaru and I will be doing your hair. Okay, so Nonoko your hair is gorgeously straight so we're going to add a few extensions since the shoulder length for me is not working out. As for makeup, we're all going to give you an au natural style so that it would be school applicable. The special occasions would be done later on." She looked at Nonoko for approval and the grin on her face was an obvious 'yes'.

She then moved on to the pink seat where Anna was as she ran her fingers through the peachy pink hair and proceeded, "Anna, the curly waves are really pretty but I bet it would look better up in a hot messy sort of bun. You can wear a headband along with it and it would look absolutely adorable."

"Ai, your brown hair should NOT be in pigtails nor in scrunchies, don't ever attempt that again. We'll be going for a sleek ponytail with side bangs. Either that or you wear it down with a clip or something."

Lastly, she moved to Aoi who looked like she couldn't care less with what they do with her. "Now that I think about it, you do seem a bit like Natsume's sister. Anyway, what's with the awfully dry hair? I know with a shampoo and an awesome blowdry, this would be gone. I opted to give you a bob cut and these glasses," she said as she took it from her and broke it in two. "You will be using contacts."

"No I won't." she stated.

"Well, you don't have glasses anymore so you have no choice. Anyway, I like your eyes so we'll just be getting a clear one." She insisted.

"Then I won't be wearing either."

"You want to go around bumping into things?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Idiot." Hotaru scoffed.

"Why?" Mikan asked annoyed.

"She had fake glasses. She doesn't really have any eye problems, she has 20/20 vision." Hotaru said while Aoi stared at her wondering how the hell she found out. "I have my sources." She replied to the silent question.

"Why do you wear them? They're hideous!" Mikan exclaimed.

"I believe that physical beauty is superficial." Aoi replied.

"Okay, I don't care what you think as long as you look good so you will not be wearing glasses because if you even do as much as try, I will break it."

"Can't I sue you for that?" Aoi threatened.

"Trust me, hun. I've got connections you'd be afraid to use." She said as she started on Nonoko's hair.

After a tiring two hours of curling, straightening, blushing and glossing, they were done. The makeup artists along with Mikan and Hotaru looked at the four analyzing if they did everything right. After a minute of intense observation, they looked at each other and let out a nod of approval.

"It's fabulous!" Mikan said at her proud handiworks. "Okay, turn!" she said as they all slowly and hesitantly turned to face the mirror. The three, with the exception of Aoi, looked so awe-struck as if they couldn't believe it was their reflection. Aoi, on the other hand, wasn't so surprised but if you looked closely, there was a certain gleam to them, a sparkle that just seemed to give Mikan even just the tiniest bit of hope.

She repeatedly thanked the makeup artists and sent them on their way as the six of them were now left alone again, except they looked a lot better than when they entered, aside from Mikan and Hotaru. She went into her closet and they anxiously waited for her until they saw her fluffy slipper come out the door and they saw her with a big notebook in her hands that was neon pink and it seemed to be completely full.

Ai was unconsciously fiddling her fingers as she was staring at Mikan, still unbelieving this was actually happening to her.

"Stop that." Mikan scolded and she quickly did so, afraid of the consequences.

"Okay so we're done with Phase one and I have to say we did a pretty good job. Okay, so many people believe that once you're pretty then you're popular, they are wrong. Sometimes, ugly people become popular because of their attitude." She said reminiscing a month in her previous school where the ruler was just a failure, good thing they realized that within a week.

"Mikan, what is in that notebook?" Nonoko asked, not being able to resist anymore.

"Okay, this is a secret but, this is like my guide to becoming popular." She said with a smile.

"That's just totally freaky." Aoi commented ignoring the glare Mikan sent her way.

"Anyway, this is full of all the secrets people have told me. A combination of the tips I gained from various confidence talks and cut-outs from different magazines. I know it's really thick and seem absolutely long but you know, I bookmarked some important parts so that it would be easier for all of us." She said as she flipped to the first bookmarked page which was her notes in a talk she really appreciated a couple of years back.

"Okay, so the first thing is attitude. You should never show anyone a sign of weakness because once they notice it, they will use it against you. Your friends now may not be your friends tomorrow so you have to pick wisely, trust me on this. I have first-hand experience." She said almost wearily as she was almost fidgeting but of course, she was beyond that.

"So you're saying you don't trust us?" Aoi asked annoyed.

"Well, to be honest with you, not yet. I mean, you are all a hell lot nicer than my previous friends so I think it would be easier for me to trust you guys and all I'm asking is that you give me time." She requested with a sad smile and in sympathy the three nodded their heads in agreement.

"Mikan, what if we're so close to breaking down?" Anna asked.

"You give them a completely bitchy and witty comment then walk off. Go somewhere only you know and that's the time you can release all the pressure that's been building up or, you can always go to your most trusted friends." She said as she flipped to another page.

Anna thought about it for awhile. She saw how Mikan had everything a girl could possibly want; she was stinking rich, popular and free. It was almost perfect that one couldn't help but envy her but she suddenly saw the weight of her having to do so much and making it look so effortless, and that's where she saw that even if she was almost invisible, she had it easy.

"Okay, on to the next tips. Well, I know you probably heard from a lot of people that I am a complete bitch, I'd have to agree. My point is, I'm assuming myself leader of this." Aoi scoffed at this remark but at this point, Mikan just decided it was better to just outright ignore her. "You don't have to be as mean as I am or anywhere near that, you just have to be fun and likable and of course, hot. So, what I will be telling you are not exactly my ways but more fit for your own."

"The first thing is to never reject anything, may it be a simple request for your attendance on something, do not reject. You could say it more nicely because once you don't then your rep will slowly start to becoming more of mine. So some confessions may be weird, you can't say a simple 'no'. Make up an excuse, even pretend to have a boyfriend for all I care just be more considerate." She said knowing that she started out nice but she started becoming meaner to go alongside the rumors because she just accidentally rejected this nerd because he was way too close to her and had the worst breath ever.

"What if it's like a drink that you feel is poison?" Aoi asked.

"You take it and find a way to throw it away, secretly of course."

"Or just tell them to taste it first." Hotaru said with a smirk.

" That would be good too, and funny afterwards." Mikan agreed. She looked towards the pink page that had the biggest bookmark. This was the one tip she used and needed the most.

"Okay last tip for now, you have to take this one seriously because if you don't, you'll be down before you even reach the top. Don't get affected. Popularity causes jealous which causes false rumors to spread so no matter how bad it gets, ignore them. Sometimes, it's helpful if you're somehow deaf. On the other hand, I've learned to block all bad rumors about me."

"But what do you do if the rumor is actually true?" Anna asked.

"You have two choices. The first one would be to, outright deny it or find a way to make it beneficial to you." She said.

"But I thought it was a bad rumour?" Ai asked.

"It it, but you have to learn to twist it around. For example, if you were forced to kiss a guy. You don't say that, you say he was an amazing kisser but you guys are just friends." She answered as she was curling her hair with her finger.

"Wouldn't that be lying?" Aoi drawled.

"No, you're just bending the truth." Mikan said as she got up and returned her book to it's hiding place.

"Okay so with that, we're done!" she screamed in happiness. "Phase 3: Wardrobe. It is my favorite part! Okay so I guess, it's obvious why I do. We get to go shopping!" she said super excited.

"It's nine in the evening. Barely, anything will be open now." Aoi stated as if to make Mikan feel stupid.

"Oh yeah, I totally didn't consider that." Mikan said sarcastically. "You know how tempted I am to kick you out?" she said at the girl sitting in front of her cross-legged lazily.

"I'd rather go out by myself, thank you very much." Aoi said as she was about to get up but Ai held her wrist with pleading eyes. She sighed in frustration and sat back down.

"Anyway, if you don't want to, you don't have to. Hotaru give them the tablets." She got up and slipped out the door and was back in less than five seconds. She each gave them a tablet that was already in a shopping site, net-a-porter (You can check it out if you want, it's really cool)

"Okay so I'll give you tips for your personality."

"Anna, you have a really sweet personality and so, I think what would mostly fit to it would be floral dresses and pastel colors." She turned to the tablet and clicked to change the site to . "I guess this is more appropriate for you. It's filled with the cuh-utest dresses ever!" she left Anna to admire the pretty clothes.

"Nonoko, you're style is similar to Anna but a bit more dark, less cutesy so I suggest you go try Sass and Bide or Chloe, they have really nice items. If you're unsure about anything, just call me."

"Ai, okay, I'm not really sure what your style is. Just tell me what you like and we'll see what we can come up with." She said looking at her with a friendly smile.

"I really like color but I have the hardest time matching it. I guess that's why I always end up just throwing anything and look like this." She said referring to her almost blinding state.

"Okay, I will give you combinations with the ones you pick and from that, you learn and eventually make your own. Let's go to Sonia by Sonia Rykiel. They've got really fun outfits to choose from." She said.

"Okay, Aoi. I have no idea if you even want to do this but, let's discuss. What kind of clothes do you like?" Mikan asked.

"I don't think you actually want to know." Aoi said.

"I do because seriously, I want to help."

"Why? You're so popular and I don't get why you even bother to put up with us misfits."

"Because I've been there." Mikan said in a soft whisper that surely only Aoi could hear. Aoi suddenly felt a change of heart as she saw the truth in her eyes.

"Fine." Mikan was shocked at her instant agreement but decided not to let it show. "I like rock n' roll sort of style. I like leather jackets, stuff with spikes, a bit of gothic Lolita but you know, I'm fine with a bit of color." She said.

"Great style, but why don't you dress up like that on a normal basis?" Mikan asked.

"Because I want people to know me for my personality, not for the way I look but since you seem so desperate to make 'friends' I'll agree with this little charade." Aoi said.

"Okay, so the best site to go to would be since they have a lot more clothes. Balmain would be the perfect brand." She said as she finally left to go to Hotaru.

"Hey, you doing shopping?" she asked leaning over her to see what she was doing. Well, she was shopping … for gadgets.

"Yeah."

"I need to talk to you." Mikan said as she dragged Hotaru to her walk in closet. They sat on her carpeted floor .

"What?" Hotaru asked.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" she asked almost pleadingly.

"I guess, as long you don't turn them into mindless bitches." Hotaru said straightforwardly.

"Like me?" Mikan said insulting herself without the least bit of hesitance.

"No, you know that's not what I meant but you have changed. I'm sure you know that."

"I do." She said with an undertone of bitterness in her voice.

"Why? It's not like you were so bad before." Hotaru said.

"Yeah, I wasn't bad, I was just the worst. People stayed away from me like I was an epidemic. I think there was a point I would kill someone just be normal."

"Well, you're not exactly normal now." She stated.

"You have no idea how hard it is to come from the bottom and just reach middle class. You either do it the whole way or don't do it at all."

"Are you actually happy now?" Hotaru asked.

"Well, happier than about eight years ago." She said.

"You didn't have to change, you know. There were people who liked you for you." Hotaru stated.

"Oh, that was a lot of people. I can even count them on one finger. Let's see, my mom and dad, you, my jii-chan and our driver." She said almost melancholic in her tone of voice. "Honestly, do you hate me now."

"I don't hate you, I hate what you've become." Hotaru said.

"I'm really trying to be a better person, I promise."

"I know you are." Hotaru said as she did a rare feat, she grabbed Mikan's hand and held it tightly.

[Somewhere out there]

"Did you get it?" a female voice asked.

"Of course I did." A snappy voice replied.

"Great. Give it to me tomorrow."

"Of course."

"And you're absolutely sure they aren't suspicious?" the female voice asked to make sure.

"They're as cluless as a bunch of goldfishes."

"What?"

"Nothing. I'll give it to you morning at the locker area."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

"You too, Luna." A girl replied as she snapped her phone shut.

She was going to get her revenge.

Mikan Sakura would have no idea what just hit her.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Gosh, I actually finished! I was so blocked writing this chapter, so I apologize for it's suckiness. At least, I didn't make it short but I was really tempted to. I know I'm a day late but I didn't have time yesterday and I had a down feeling this morning so it's only tonight I got to finish this. RANDOM THING: I'm seeing David Archuleta tomorrow! WOOT WOOT~ **

**Thanks for all the reviews, I so much appreciate them considering there's barely any in a chapter so thank you for those who give the time and effort.**

**BTW, I have a poll in my account about what's going to happen in the story. Vote there to find out! I will be using it about 3 chapters from now so that's a lot of time.**

**Disclaimer: Voldemort told me to own this thing but he's dead now so I guess that's invalid now, gosh so annoying. **

Monday Morning, Sakura residence

For the first time since she came here, she woke up before her alarm clock. She had a smile of assurance on her face knowing that today, she wouldn't be coming in alone. She'd be coming with the hottest girls in school and she knew it would give everyone the shock of their lives.

She went to her shower a she scrubbed while singing 'Last Friday Night' which she has been doing for the weekend. The sleepover ended with a bang as they watched five chick flicks in a row, told horror stories and gave each other mani pedis as they 6+fell asleep at about three in the morning. They all left before lunch and she was left to spend the rest of her weekend rejoicing with her accomplishments as she went into her favorite café, doing homework.

She went into her closet as she grabbed a cropped tuxedo jacket with a corset top and skinny jeans with Christian Louboutin pumps. She grabbed her black Chanel bag as she got into the car, too excited to bother with breakfast. She picked up the four in their mansions, except for Ai who lived in a big townhouse.

"I'm so excited!" she said as she met them inside with their new hairstyles and wardrobe.

"And you just can't hide it!" Anna sang as they all laughed inside the Hummer.

They all conversed about how they spent the rest of their weekends. Mostly, they spent it catching up on sleep and just staying indoors waiting for their clothes to arrive.

"So, how do you plan on entering the school?" Hotaru asked.

"I was hoping you'd ask that. I want maximum attention so we'll be dropped off in front of the gates instead of the school."

"That's a pretty long walk." Nonoko commented looking at her platforms.

"It will be totally worth it." Mikan assured her as the car finally came to a stop.

She didn't believe in the whole 'leader goes first'. It earns a lot more bad rumors than if you go together but still, she wanted to be the first to go out. She knew they were outfit ready in their new designer clothes but this was her car, she decided it should be a benefit to her.

The door was opened and everyone stared because of how far it still was from the door. The first thing everyone saw was a studded patent black pump which was followed by it's pair. Afterwards, came her hourglass figure with that amazing brown curls that flowed ever so flawlessly on the smiling face.

Next to her came Hotaru in a brown knitted poncho with leggings and gold sandals. Afterwards came Anna and Nonoko with matching floral dresses and cardigans except Anna's was in sky blue and Nonoko's was gray and both were wearing platforms.

Lastly came Ai and Aoi. Ai was dressed in a hot pink leather jacket with a black tank to underneath with a denim mini skirt and flats. Aoi, on the other hand, dressed completely differently. She was in a black top with shoulder pads matched with black tights and ankle booties.

They walked in unison side by side. They each had a different sort of walk defining who they were. As Mikan heard the unending cat calls, a smirk lit up her face. They were getting fans, and fast. She arrived at her locker to see Hyuuga with a smirk on his face.

"What do you want now?" she asked with new-found confidence.

"I have to say, I thought you'd be gone now." He commented as he leaned on the locker beside her with that messy hair that just made girls swoon all over the place. Since she is still a girl, she was doing her best to ignore looking into those eyes as it gave her a feeling that once she did, she'd be trapped there forever.

"Well, I'm sorry to have disappointed you." She said sarcastically as she got her books for her first two subjects. She took a glance in the mirror to see that she looked as good as when she left the house.

Suddenly, her locker door was shut and one shoulder of Natsume entrapped her as she was forced to look at him. At least, she did it with the fiercest look she could muster at the moment.

"Don't turn my sister into one of your mindless followers." He said as icily as possible. A shiver ran down her spine as she was scared out of her wits but it would be such a cowardice thing to do right now.

"FYI, unlike that Koizumi leech that keeps following you around, I actually treat my friends as friends not as slaves and I give them their own personality. They don't have to copy me for me to like them." She said angrily as she stalked down her first class.

"You better watch out." Natsume warned to no one as she was gone before he could utter a single word.

Through the day, she just does her best to avoid him and stick close to her friends who kept gushing to her about all the stares and compliments they've been getting. She gets home surprisingly feeling tired, not knowing it would be this stressful to avoid someone. Well, she guessed what made it harder is that she had him as a classmate in almost every class.

She spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with her friends and making outfit plans for Ai and making sure that no one would be clashing colors. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep trying to understand a chemistry problem, completely forgetting about the math test they were having the next day.

Gakuen Alice, Wednesday

"What do you mean there's a test?" she yelped in confusion.

"Miss Sakura, please sit down. I announced this yesterday but you were probably busy daydreaming which seems to be fun for you." Jinno said frustrated at the girl.

"Fine." She said as she took a seat and stared at the paper that was filled of terms she felt like she has never heard before in her life. She did her best to guess, but knowing from the start she was going to get a big fat F. The best she could hope for was a D-.

The papers were collected as she banged her head on her desk, completely forgetting that Hyuuga sat beside her.

"It was pretty easy." He said looking at her with a smirk. She wanted his head on a silver platter as she gave him a glare telling him to 'quit it'. But of course, he didn't.

"Failing is a consequence for some people who spend more time on their hair than in studying." He commented wanting her to feel resentment towards him. He did his best to steer from any problematic girl. Though she wasn't falling head over heels for him, she was trying to rise in the social ladder and he didn't like girls like those.

"Whatever, smartass." She said as Jinno finally dismissed the class and proceeded to go out but was immediately stopped by Jinno who gave her a disappointing stare.

He also stopped Natsume and Mikan could see where this was going. Hopefully, she was as stupid as some say she is, and she failed to infer correctly.

"Sakura, I took one look at your paper and knew you were going to fail. This is the first time and since you are a new student, I am willing to give you a make-up test." She knew there would be some condition, otherwise why would Hyuuga also be called.

"Hyuuga-san" she hated the fact that he got the honorific, "on the other hand, has passed it with flying colors so he will be your tutor until the test I've set for Thursday. " Jinno stated as he looked to Natsume who gave him a curt nod.

"No, I don't want a tutor. I can do this on my own!" she whined as she got a glare from Jinno that obviously stated 'you don't have a choice in this so stop complaining'. They were sent out onto their next class. Just as she was about to turn, her new tutor grabbed her wrist so unexpectedly, she almost fell.

"What?" she asked as her eyes flashed a lot of annoyance.

"Look, I know that we both don't want this so we might as well, get it over with. My house, after school, until Wednesday." He said as he walked off, not bothering to give the address knowing she picked up Aoi this morning.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she wailed internally as she realized the value of listening. Now, she had to endure three days with that demon whose probably going to make her feel like such an idiot when studying just to get on her nerves.

Finally, lunch came and they assembled into their group. Turns out, Ai and Aoi both have a fan club now and the bullying stopped. Natsume's fan club finally respected Aoi compare to before, when they regarded her unworthy to be a Hyuuga. So, over all it was a pretty good makeover.

"Aoi, what's Natsume's rank in the batch?" Mikan asked curious as to why he was the one assigned to tutor her, he didn't look like the bookworm type.

"I don't know, ask Hotaru." She looked at the girl eating crab roe as she raised an eyebrow.

"Second." She surely replied.

"Then who's first?"

"Me." She replied almost arrogantly as she proceeded into eating.

"Figures." She said then realized something. "Hotaru, can you be my tutor in Geometry?"

"Let me guess, you failed and they got Hyuuga to be your tutor." It was more of a statement than a question so she just gave a troubled nod along with puppy dog eyes.

"I can't."

"Why not? You're even smarter than him!"

"Jinno already assigned him and we're not classmates so deal with it and stop bothering me while I'm wating." She glared then went back to eating.

I stared at Anna and Nonoko incredulously.

"Hotaru takes her crab roe very seriously." Anna stated.

She still couldn't believe how changed her friend's personalities were from her previous school to the ones she had now. Her previous ones would be scared to eat anything with carbs. In here, she was free to down a whole cake, not in public though, and they wouldn't probably care much.

"What's with the contemplating face?" Aoi asked a bit curious at the random spacing out of the brunette.

"Nothing, just had a bit of reminiscing moment." She said with a reassuring smile.

"Mikan, you've never told us anything about where you came from, after you moved from Japan." Nonoko said and the others replied in agreement.

"Well, it's a pretty long and dramatic story so I'll tell you the whole thing later on but now, I'll just make it brief. I left when I was still a kid so I came there elementary, I was homeschooled for about two years and when I finally got to a normal one, I was overjoyed. Turns out, it wasn't as fun as it seemed, it was a constant struggle for attention and wariness of someone looking at you. I strived so hard and finally, I got what I wanted, I was at the top." She gave a sad smile at nothing in particular as she looked up to see them all waiting for what happened next.

"I was in the most coveted spot, the top of the social ladder. Then, I just got a bit bored with school so I missed classes for three days, just out partying until whenever I had the strength to. I finally went back to school but it seemed someone ratted me out so I got expelled. Even though it seemed sort of tiring at that point, I threw an expulsion party knowing my parents would get me back in. During the party, I overheard my 'friends' backstabbing me, I kicked them out. By the time my parents got back, they told me we'd be getting back here." She released a huge sigh as she looked at them again, "so here I am now."

"Wow." Was all Ai was able to say at that moment, everyone else was just too speechless so they all stood up and gave each a silent message. They ran up to her and gave her a hug. It was all so unexpected by the girl that she slowly grew teary-eyed.

"Guys, you're ruining my makeup." She teased as she got a tissue before it ran all over her face and returned their comforting hugs. "You're the best." She said as they all stood up as the bell rang loudly and they went to their respective classes.

Finally, Mikan's dread has come. It was departure time, meaning tutorial time. The only thing she was happy about was that Aoi would be there, even if it was unlikely for her to support her, she'd be there in case anything wrong goes down. She dropped everyone else first and finally came the Hyuuga mansion. It was a Western themed sort of house. It was big with red bricks and a white roof and was filled with trees that were obviously maintained.

She got off as I breathlessly stared at the big oak doors that were opened by these tall guys in black suits. Okay, she may be rich but even she doesn't have that.

"Why are you also getting out?" Aoi asked dumbfounded. She forgot to mention that, well maybe it was a bit done out of purpose because it was totally embarrassing.

"You're late." Natsume stated as he stood at the front doors while leaning on the doorframe.

"I had to drop off a lot of people. It's not like I kept you waiting so long." I said as I walked up with Aoi in front of me.

"I thought you two weren't even in speaking terms. No way are you secretly dating?" she accused both of them. Both of them stared at her wide eyed at her absurd assumption.

"I would never date such a jerk. I have standards, you know!" Mikan defended.

"I don't go for idiots, you know that." Natsume said with a smirk that made Mikan stalk up to him and give him a much-earned punch in the jaw.

"I never knew you were the violent type." Aoi said as she looked at her brother that was being rushed to by several maids with ice as his jaw was starting to turn purple.

"He brought it upon himself." She said with an innocent smile that almost made it hard to believe she caused the Natsume Hyuuga to be in dire pain.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked furiously.

"For making my almost perfect school life imperfect." She said as she talked with Aoi who led her to the living room about the subjects she was taking.

After half an hour or so, Natsume emerged from nowhere as the bruise seemed t o be lightening up after several crèmes applied to him by the family doctor. He grabbed her wrist tightly and dragged her to his room.

"Ow! That hurts." She complained as she was thrown into his couch.

"Didn't consider that when you hit me awhile ago, did you?" he said still angry as he pulled out a cigarette and let out a puff of smoke.

"Ok, you deserved it. And can you please not smoke in front of me? Second hand smoking is much more dangerous than you think, I could die."

"Then we can all get on with our normal lives." He said as he leaned closer and exhaled once more.

"Ugh, you're so immature."

"If I'm immature, what do you call yourself? Can we just get this over with? I have far more important things to do."

"Let's."

He helped her as hard as it was, making her memorize all the angles and their corresponding postulates. It had taken them more than half an hour each but at least there was progress.

"I'm tired already." She whined.

"We're barely halfway through the first lesson." He stated at her sprawled form.

"I want to die. I don't need academics, I hate school! Fuck my life!" she yelled at the wall.

"I don't think you have even the slightest bit of problems that most people do." He guessed based on her Gucci bag and everything designer she had on.

"That's because you don't even know half of me." She said with a look that told him that maybe he was judging her too quickly. Contrary to what he said beforehand, he was actually free for the day so he got two sodas in the refrigerator and threw one at her. "Catch." He said it too late as the can hit her on the head and he had to stifle a laugh at her reaction.

"You could've warned me."

"I did. Anyway, since you seem to be tired of math, let's rest for awhile. I get tired of teaching you too" he said as he took a sip.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Entertain me, prove me wrong of accusing you of some spoiled heiress that gets everything she wants." He said, somehow really curious on her side of the story. He'd judge it himself to see if she was telling the truth or not.

"Well, where do you want me to begin?" she asked. "And how do I know I can trust you?" she didn't know why but even if he said she couldn't, she probably would've proceeded because he gave her the feeling of the need to share. Besides, she hasn't told anyone the full story yet.

"From the very start and well, who would I actually tell I'm not some gossip queen who'd go and post this conversation at some networking site. And just to make it fair, you tell me and I'll tell you a bit of my story after."

"From the very beginning, I was this little chubby kid who had the most loving parents that gave me everything I'd ever wanted. I was showered with all the chocolates and candies that any kid would die to have. Unsurprisingly, I grew fat and I was young so I paid it no heed. Instead, I focused on my academics as being home schooled gave me no other choice. I only met Hotaru because we were neighbors."

"When I went to America, I was bullied so bad. Basically everything I was to them, was funny. They teased me on the way I spoke, the way I dressed and mostly on the way I looked. I cried myself to sleep every night, wondering if it would ever stop. Finally, the school year ended and I did what I consider now to be the best decision yet, I went to fat camp." She said as she looked at him and he didn't seem to process it yet as his face was just as stoic as it was when she started.

**A/N: So did it rule? Suck? Made you angry? Cry? Kill your computer? What? I really want to know so just click that tempting button down there even just to say a few words or so. Come on, the more reviews the more inspired I am to write a chapter so more reviews, better chapters**

**Xoxo,**

**Bubblefizz001**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yo, weekly update is being followed! Yeah but no one is still voting in the poll. If it continues like this, I shall just remove it. Anyway, so yeah I've had a wonderful week.**

**I won David Archuleta tickets and went to the concert last Monday. It was amazing, I'm in love. He is just the most adorable thing ever!**

**Okay, I'm trying to get over the addiction phase so yeah, I just watched Harry Potter which was completely awesome! Harry's son is the cutest boy I've ever seen.**

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A pause entered the conversation as Mikan stared at Natsume to see his reaction to the whole thing. He could always hate her and expose it to the whole school but for some reason she felt that he wasn't that sort of person. Well, that was the only reaction she was expecting for she knew just how unexpected he was.

"You, in fat camp? I don't believe it." Natsume said indignantly. "If this is some way for me to pity you, it's not working." He said pretty annoyed that she thought he would actually buy such a story.

"Oh yeah, I'd say that to get sympathy. The one thing I hate the most to get from people is pity, I'd much rather be hated." She said.

Natsume thought about it and it was true. She really seemed to be the type who'd much rather be feared than pitied. But still, it didn't make sense why she looked like this right now? As far as he heard, it only made you thinner not changed you physically not attitude wise.

"Look Hyuuga, if you're just going to stare at me like that then we might as well go on with studying." She suggested as she felt weird under his gaze.

"No, okay fine I somehow believe you." He said urging her to go on. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he really wanted to know what happened next.

"So there, I went to fat camp. I emerged from a size 16 to a size 2 but you know, I pretty much was the same attitude wise. I went back to school and everybody was amazed at the sudden change. Suddenly, my crush, who as cliché as it is was the hottest guy in school, asked me out. He was a senior and I was a freshman. I couldn't believe my luck. We went out for a good three weeks until I found him cheating on me and that was the end of that."

He wondered what the guy looked like and how he could cheat on such a gorgeous girl. Well, since she was nicer then and more innocent, okay why was he defending his thoughts about her? Maybe it was because she was not all she turned out to be. She had a lot more going for her, she just refused to see it.

"Then I was so heartbroken and my parents couldn't stand seeing me cry so they moved me to another school. At that time I was so bitter and hated myself for believing any guy would like me for how I looked. I took a look at myself in the mirror and decided I wasn't thin enough. I went through the whole anorexia phase until my mom made me see a psychiatrist so I stopped. After wards, I completely changed my wardrobe and threw all those sweats and baggy shirts and exchanged them for designer ones. By the time I got to my new school, I was a changed person but it was mostly just on the inside." She stopped for awhile taking a sip into her soda and also wanted to see if Natsume really wanted to listen.

"What happened next?" he asked. She smirked a little bit inside knowing that even just a tiny bit, he was interested to know her. That, or he had a secret recorder somewhere that was recording all this for future blackmail. She was starting to get paranoid having Hotaru back in her life.

"I got into the school with a lot of stares and a lot of cat calls and for the first time in my life, I felt that I looked good. The queen bee who was a senior befriended me and got me into their group saying I had a lot of potential. I agreed, without any hesitation. One day I was alone, this really cute guy asked me out but he wasn't my type so I told him that and rumours got so bad that I just laughed his confession off. People started to avoid me thinking I was a complete bitch. And once the queen graduated I was left to fend for myself and that's when the rumours started becoming true without me noticing it until I was completely attached to it's power."

"So I guess that's it?" he asked acting as if it was a pretty normal story.

"Yeah, that's me. I know I'm absolutely disgusting and selfish."

"Even if that's totally true, I want to propose a deal with you." Natsume said unsure of what he just did. He just felt that she still had potential to change.

"Shoot." She said as she wondered what she was getting herself into.

"I'll help you bring down Luna." He said with a hesitation bubbling up inside him. Why was he doing this? He usually wouldn't care if Luna goes flaunting her bad attitude to everyone.

"On what conditions?" Mikan asked sure there was at least one.

"Once you rule the school, leave me alone. I hate Luna bugging me every single day, it would be nice to have some freedom. And you have to be nicer, or at least try." He said.

"Why do you care how I act?"

"Because I think you're more capable of being nicer to students."

"Awww, I'm touched. Fine but if I have to, then I'll do it my own way." She said.

"What is your own way?" he asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." She said with a smirk.

With that, they formed a truce. They continued on with their studying as the atmosphere was lighter and they were able to focus on studying more rather than the awkwardness that enveloped them awhile ago.

She got home feeling pretty accomplished with herself. She went to sleep happy seeing that things just kept getting better for her here, she was having a lucky streak.

"Mikan, you've been spacing out for a really long time!" Anna said as she reminded her for the third time this morning. She really was wondering what the brunette was thinking about since she had this faraway look in her eyes.

"I need to talk to him." She decided, standing up deciding to look for Natsume.

"Who's 'him'?" Nonoko teased.

"My brother." Aoi said, unsure what happened when they were alone considering she came out happy, well happier than expected.

"I thought you hated him." Nonoko commented.

"I did. I can't say we're friends now, though. We're acquaintances at most." She said as they walked towards the school and still not having any sight of the raven-haired lad.

"Then why are you looking for him?" Ai asked.

"Reasons." She replied carelessly as she gave up and proceeded to her first class considering he'd most likely arrive late, as usual.

"Good morning, my dear students!" Narumi chirped.

He droned on and on as Mikan just settled for using the school's internet connection and using facebook. She suddenly found an event on her homepage that said that about five hundred of her friends in America was attending.

She clicked it and found it was a party made by all her ex-friends. She went through the lousy description and even found a desperate line that said, 'Better than ALL Mikan Sakura parties. To hell with her and her parties, let's start a new era!'

She wanted to crush her phone at that very moment, just when Natsume came in and caught sight of her hard grip on her phone. He leaned in, without Mikan's notice, and read the annoying text. He was a bit surprised at how fast they forgot about her. Just to include her there, he wondered how did she throw a party? It was a sure thing, she'd be throwing one in the near future.

"So what do we do?" Natsume asked as she almost jumped in her seat as she felt his breath in his ear and just did her best to stop herself from blushing.

"Not much, considering we're not even in the same country." She said as she stared at the phone hatefully.

"Idiot, I meant with Luna." He said as he finally moved back to his side and pulled out his iPod and just listened as she was left to dwell on what exactly it was they were going to do.

Finally, lunch time came and all she'd been thinking about was what she was going to do with Luna exactly, that will bring her down.

"So when is Luna going down?" Hotaru asked.

"How'd you know?"

"Why else would you be talking with Hyuuga? Though as I said, don't get too attached." She was doing her best, most definitely.

"Okay, well I haven't talked to him much."

As if on cue, Natsume along with his posse sat at their table while the three were shell-shocked, Mikan, Hotaru and Aoi just raised their eyebrows at the five men in front of them.

For Mikan, it was her first time to meet some of them and they knew that so they decided to introduce themselves.

"I'm Kokoro Yome. And as you can see, I'm friends with Natsume here but don't tell anyone this. He was the one who invited me into the group." He said with a cheeky smile that made Mikan laugh. He was pretty cute with his sandy brown hair and optimistic attitude.

"I'm Yuu Tobita. I'm the class president. You can call me Linchou, it's nice to meet you Mikan-chan." Okay Mikan was seriously thinking why such an innocent thing is part of Natsume's group. His glasses made him exude an adorable sort of dork, which was not her type but Nonoko seemed to be into him as she watched the big smile on the blue-haired girl's face when he introduced himself.

"Youichi, I hate hags." This silver haired boy said that reminded her so much of Natsume. He looked younger than all of them and was probably Ai and Aoi's age. He was actually hot but she wasn't into the whole Natsume wannabe thing he had going on.

"Mikan-san, Natsume wanted to sit here. We're sorry for intruding." Ruka said with his ever charming smile that just made her nod dumbly. She didn't like him that way but he had this attraction radiating around him that just made you accept whatever he said.

"Nah, it's fine. Girls, scoot over." They compressed a bit and let the boys in and suddenly all eyes were on their table. Natsume sat beside Mikan and she wondered how he could eat a sandwich so properly. She didn't eat that in public because she always made a complete mess.

"So I'm guessing this is phase one?" she asked him. He gave a curt nod.

"So I heard about the revenge these two are planning on Luna." Koko commented as his eyes flickered to the two.

"Yeah, what are you two planning to do?" Ai asked.

"Well, we've already started, just having our two groups on one table while she's just with her posse will lessen her power even for just a bit. The fact that we've never hung out with her group would be make students respect you guys more." Natsume explained.

The rest nodded understanding. "We're going to do this gradually. We can't rush it or it would be more prone to mistakes." Mikan said.

"So Hotaru, what do you have on her?" Ruka asked absolutely sure there was something.

"A lot." She replied.

"What can we use now?" Mikan asked as she spun the pasta with her fork and taking a forkful into her mouth.

"Well, she is a two-timer."

"Just a two-timer?" Anna asked shocked.

"She just slept with the other two so maybe it doesn't count." Hotaru said.

"Who are the two?" Koko asked.

"Hiro Michiko and Kame Iru." She said.

"Well, they're both douche bags so it makes sense." Nonoko said.

"Details please." Mikan said.

"Hiro is the captain of the basketball varsity and he's thinks he's all that. Once, he even held an autograph session which was just too much. He's a playboy but he's keeping Luna for awhile because it gains him more popularity. They're dating VERY publicly." Aoi said as she her gaze moved to the jock table and to the guy with brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was hot, Mikan had to admit that but she'd met a lot of hotter guys.

"And the other one?" she inquired.

"Kame, I didn't know they were dating. He's a douche in the way that he consider girls as sex toys. He's a complete man whore. I heard he at least gets laid thrice a week. It makes sense that Luna's cheating with him. It's so obviously that they're only using each other's bodies." This time Koko said as he pointed to this table filled with girls and one guy in between. The girls were obviously the desperate type. He had black hair and big green eyes.

"Ewww." Mikan said disgusted at the second guy just a tad bit more from the first one.

"So how do we reveal them?" Yuu asked. They all stared at him surprised he wanted to be a part of this. "I don't have a choice, just don't be too harsh on her." Okay well that seemed more like him, but he couldn't expect them to be nice to her.

"I've been thinking about it and I think we should expose them publicly because pictures don't really prove much. People can justify that it's photoshopped."

"How are we going to do that?"

"With a bit of charm, it's definitely possible."

"When will this ensue?"

"I'd like to have it done by tomorrow." Mikan said. "How about we get them all horny for one another and catch them on the act?"

"Once again, how?" Anna asked.

"I know how much she hates me and how it will get under her skin if I even just talk to either one of them so I shall talk to that Kame guy and tell him Luna wants to talk to him in the janitor's closet. After that, he'll go there and Luna will stalk up to me and I'll tell her that he told me that they should meet in the janitor's closet. With her stupidity, she wouldn't realize that I just want to catch her."

"So when they're both gone. You wait for a few minutes then use the prepared camera inside the closet that was recording the entire thing. Play it live and they see it all." Hotaru assumed. Mikan gave a curt nod knowing Hotaru would've figured it out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - THE NEXT DAY

"Hi there, I'm Mikan." She said as she sashayed in her Chloe Jacquard mini skirt that she knew looked good with her oxford boots.

"Ah, the new student. I've heard about you," he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "a lot."

She wanted to push him away but instead gave him one of her giggles that just sounded angelic. "Oh, you have. I guess I'll have take that as a compliment." She teased as she twirled a lock of her hair that she knew just made guys go wild.

"Trust me, it very much is." He said as he leaned in even closer that she could already feel his breath on her face, "Anyway, what brought you here to my table?" he asked with a cocky tone.

She gave a coy smile as she discreetly peeped behind to see Luna glaring daggers at her. Perfect, she thought with a smirk. She ran a finger through his shirt that sent him tingles, "Actually, I'm just here to deliver a message." She said so secretively.

"And what is that message?" he asked in a tone that probably got all the girls fan girling. If she hadn't known how much of a douche he was then she probably would've swooned.

"Luna had been feeling a little _neglected _lately, I don't think I need to explain myself. She wants you to meet her in the second floor janitor's closet otherwise, well I'm sure you know how she is when she feels neglected." She said with a smile that just got him immediately out the door.

Before she could rejoice at the victory of Phase One, she felt a grip on her arm. She didn't need to be Einstein to figure out who owned those sharp manicured nails.

"You bitch, you think you can steal him just like that. I'm warning you; I know a lot more than you think I do." Luna warned.

"Why, what exactly was I doing?" she asked acting cluelessly.

"Don't go around flirting with every guy that you meet. You think you can get them all but I'm telling you I was here first and I own this school. You are just a pest that I need to get out of my way."

"Thank you for actually considering me something worth noticing. Actually, I'm just here to tell you a message from Kame, you luck girl." She said with a laugh that made it seem sincere.

"What did he want to tell me?" Luna asked sceptically.

"He said he hasn't been feeling the love lately. It seems that you're not paying enough attention but he's giving you a chance to make it up to him by going to the second floor janitor's closet." She said basically just paraphrasing what she said awhile ago.

The camera had been set since fifth period so as Luna sauntered off, she looked at Hotaru who gave a nod as she turned her laptop on and connected it to the AV system of the cafeteria.

"Hey guys!" she shouted loud enough and stood above the table that all eyes were on here. She gave a sweet smile as she proceeded with her announcement. "Hiro right? Yeah, I need you here." Hiro seemed pleased to be called by the gorgeous girl. He had noticed her since her first day but still had Luna to handle.

"I think you, along with everyone else, might want to watch this." She said as she played the live video to see Kame and Luna making out heavily in the closet with Luna's makeup all ruined and Hiro's hair all over the place. You could clearly hear their loud moans through the camera.

Everyone was so shocked that the cafeteria grew so silent all that could be heard was the two's make-out session. She stared at Hiro's mad face.

"That whore! I knew she wasn't going to sleepovers those nights she rejected, I trusted her. I even stopped dating other girls for that thing! She thinks she's so hot just because she has big boobs. Well, everyone guess what, it's fake! Yeah, when I went to her house and she left me alone for a minute I snooped around and found a plastic surgery for her."

Wow, nobody expected that. Now, they were even more surprised, it was gossip overload. Mikan was shocked at how fast this was going. She hadn't known those where fake, well now everybody knows.

Hotaru stopped the video as the whole cafeteria buzzed again discussing all the information they just digested in less than five minutes.

"Oh my Gosh." Anna said as they were back in their table.

"That was just unbelievable." Aoi said as she stared at space.

"Well, Hiro seems to be taking it well." A lot of cheerleaders had come to his table to comfort him. He had a pretentious frown on his face.

"I can't wait for the moment that blondie walks into that door." Mikan said.

Natsume had been MIA throughout the whole thing, he had been absent and told Ruka he had 'better things to do' in which Mikan thought he just didn't want to get involved.

Suddenly, the whole cafeteria grew quiet again as the doors opened to see Luna with her makeup all made up again with all eyes on her.

"Awwww, I had no idea you'd miss me guys so much. I'll try not to take so long in the bathroom next time." She said arrogantly.

"Are you sure that's where you were?" Hiro asked approaching her.

"Of course, where else would I be?" she asked nervously, fiddling with her fingers.

"Liar, we all know what you did! I can't believe you cheated on me with that Iru guy!" he said as he went back to his table with a deathly glare.

"No, that's not true!" she defended to everybody.

They just all stared at her blankly. Finally, Mikan stood up and walked towards the defensive girl.

"We all saw it with our own two eyes." She said with a smirk.

"Face it Luna, you've just been dethroned."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey seventh chapter and I'm not gaining any more reviews. If I didn't like the plot so much, I would've quit it from the third one so please review even if it's just a short one. Thank for those who review every chapter, your love is very much appreciated.**

**So, I guess I can handle doing this every week so I shall do that even if I have another story that I need to update too but I'm too lazy for that. **

**Hey, you guys have any suggestions as to where this story could go, tell me! And please answer the poll because I might be using that for the next chapter already and only two have answered it.**

**Yeah, so that's it! Thank you for reading this fic, I hope you like the short chapter. **

Luna stared at her in pure anger as Mikan imagined it would've looked better if smoke came out of her ears. She stifled a giggle and just kept her smirk on. Everyone's eyes were on them, heavily wondering what they are going to do with one another.

"Cat got you tongue?" Mikan asked.

"Girls, tell them it's not true!" Luna ordered her posse who knew it was a hopeless case considering they saw the video too and there was no way people would.

"We're sorry Luna, but we'd be lying if we did." One of them said as she got mad at Luna for ruining their popularity in school.

"Yeah everybody like, totally saw it." Another blonde said while staring nervously at her nails.

"Sakura-san, please accept us into your group!" they all said as they approached her and begged.

She looked at the three in pity before speaking, "I'm sorry but I don't like being associated with such girls of low class who'd latch on to whoever's on top. I don't swing that way." She said looking at them with a glare that just made them run out of the cafeteria (déjà vu?)

"Remember?" Natsume asked.

"I said I'll do it my own way. Meaning, I'll be nice to people who deserve it." She said as their eyes once again turned to Luna who was now bawling her eyes out, her mascara smudging. "You'd think she'd at least get waterproof makeup." Mikan muttered.

She seemed to have heard that as her eyes flashed in fierce anger and was about to slap Mikan but she caught it assuming that the blonde would attempt such a thing.

"Your tricks are getting just a tad bit old." She commented as she let go of the hand.

"You think you've won, don't you?" Luna said.

"I know I have."

"Just you wait, watch you back very carefully. You'll have no idea just who you can't trust." She said with a smirk as she gathered herself and exited the cafeteria.

"You don't scare me." MIkan said just before she could step out. She smiled at all the yells of the people in joy but of course, she wasn't the type to underestimate people so she did feel even just a bit threatened.

"Wow that went by fast." Nonoko commented.

"I don't think so. I'm sure Luna still has something in her back. She wouldn't rule if she wasn't as conniving as I am." Mikan warned as she stood up to go to her next class.

SOMEWHERE ELSE

"Why didn't you tell me about her plan?" Luna demanded.

"What fun would it be if I did?" the stranger said with a smirk.

"You just let me get embarrassed in such a big crowd and that's all you can say for yourself?" she said furiously.

"God, stop screaming. Don't worry, you'll have your revenge soon enough and she'll be gone before she even came."

"How will I know your information is true? She could've convinced you to go to her side." Luna suspected.

"I would never trust someone who came from such a backstabbing family." The girl said with obvious animosity in her voice.

"Okay, fine no need to go all brooding on me. I will be expecting the information by next week."

"And I will be expecting the payment tomorrow."

"Well, I'll be on my way."

- - - - - - - - TUTORIAL SESSION

"Okay, so the vertical angles have to be congruent with one another otherwise, they aren't vertical angles?" she asked unsurely.

"Yes, exactly. Now just do page 30 while I have something to do." He said, she did her best to focus on what was written in the page but his voice was very loud.

"No, I can't give it to you today—Why? Because I have better things to do." At this she gave a satisfied smile, "Tomorrow morning, yeah, I'll drop by. Okay, see you."

She just finished with the first number out of five. "Who was that?" she asked facing him.

"Been eavesdropping? Curiosity killed the cat." He said as he grabbed the paper she was 'answering' and looked at the three other blank numbers.

"Hey, give me that!" she was reaching out when she suddenly remembered something. "Oi, you still owe me one thing about yourself, remember?" she asked.

"Aa." He replied.

"So you have to tell me!" she persisted.

"Now?"

"Better late than never." She replied as she stared at him as if hypnotizing him to tell a story.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a smirk. She brought about her normal confident look and said, "Nothing."

"Fine, when I was younger my mom passed away and my dad became a total workaholic leaving me and Aoi and we barely got to see him once a month. Now, well we live on our own. He moved to a place nearer his workplace and the last time we visited him, he was with a girl probably my age making out and since then, we stopped visiting him." He said in such an emotionless voice that hid the fact that he was still not over that experience.

"I'm pretty sure you'd hate it when I'd say sorry but really, that's pretty bad." She said as she stared at his frustrated figure.

"I try not to dwell on it." He said.

"Okay then, let's proceed." She said as she grabbed the paper from him and answered the rest of the word problems in a matter of five minutes, she gave it back with a satisfied grin on her face.

He checked it very quickly and gave it back to her, "You got all of them right."

"I know, I have an awesome teacher." She said with a smile.

They proceeded on for a half an hour more until she left to go home.

"Where have you been?" her dad asked.

"Why do you care?" she asked, she still was a bit mad for the surprise move no matter how good it was going.

"Look Mikan, I'm sorry. You know I really wanted to tell you but you seemed to be happy where you are and it seemed that it would be better if we told you just before we left because knowing your cleverness, you would've made a fool-proof plan that would stop us from leaving." Her dad apologized. She approached him and gave him a hug.

"I know you always want what's best for me so yeah, and you are right about the fool-proof plan. Besides, I'm having a much better time here than I would have expected." She said with a smile.

"Have you met Kaoru's son?" Izumi asked.

"Who?"

"Natsume, remember he used to be one of your playmates." He said.

"Hyuuga?" she asked incredulously.

"So you have met him? How is he? After his mother's death, we lost contact." He said.

"He's okay." She replied then realizing the remaining homework she had to do. "Excuse me dad, let's talk after dinner. I still have a lot of homework I have to do so yeah."

He let her go up where she did her assignments but not before she rummaged through her box that she had since she was a child. She pulled out a necklace that had a pink pendant with a silver N behind. She held it close to her and just slowly tried to remember.

_Flashback_

"_Natsume, we have to go!" she said tugging at his wrist._

"_Why? We just arrived, we haven't even gone to the slide yet." Natsume persisted. _

"_My mom said we need to be back by five but we still bought ice cream so we lost time and it's about to be five." Mikan complained._

"_I have a deal with you." Natsume offered. At such a young age, he already knew how to get what he wanted._

"_What?" Mikan asked giddy, Natsume offered great deals. Last time, she traded her chocolate for a stuffed dog a girl gave to Natsume. _

"_I'll give you something if you just accompany me to the slide." He said._

"_It depends what you're going to give me." Mikan said._

"_This." He said as he pulled out a sparkling pink gem that was held by a silver chain with a cursive N behind. She let out a gasp in awe at how pretty it is. She watched her mom put on those kind of things in parties and she naturally felt attracted towards them. _

"_That's so pretty, where'd you get it?" she asked as she immediately grabbed it from his hand and just held it in her hands._

"_My mom gave it to me. She said I needed to give it to you today. Want me to put it one?" she gave him a mute nod as he grabbed it from her hand and brushed her hair to the side and clasped it on her neck._

"_It's perfect! But why would your mom want you to give me this?" she asked curiously as they headed to the slides._

"_I don't know. Anyway, the last one is as idiotic as that cousin of yours." He said as he ran._

"_Don't be so mean to Tsubasa-san!" she shouted as she walked towards the boy who was quietly enjoying the slide._

"_Whatever, he's gay!" Natsume said as he waited for Mikan at the end of the slide._

"_Weeeee!" she shouted as she put her hands up and Natsume grabbing her hand just as she arrived down. _

_They continued so for a few more turns until Mikan became tired and decided it was time to go. They silently walked holding each other's hand as both felt happiness within them. When they finally arrived to their homes, which were conveniently located next to each other, she bid him goodbye with a kiss on the cheek as that they already considered tradition._

"_Mommy, I'm home!" Mikan sing-songed._

_She found her mom on the floor with boxes all around her and their furniture gone. She had no idea what was happening but it already gave her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach._

"_Honey, we're moving to America." Her mother said with a sigh._

"_What?" she asked. She didn't even know where that was._

"_We're going to another country because your dad got a better job there." Her mom explained. They were leaving in a week's time and it was better for her to know earlier so that she'd be prepared. _

"_No, I can't" she persisted, unknown that the decision was final. "I can't leave Hota-chan and Natsume. They'll think I'm the worst friend ever!" she defended._

"_Dear, they'll understand." Her mom said sincerely as she played with her child's hair._

"_No, they won't! They're my only friends, and you'll even take me away from them?" she asked mad, she ran away._

_She proceeded to Natsume's house where she was starting to cry while holding the necklace he gave her closely to her neck as she wondered how he will react and she grew afraid of the fact that he just might hate her. She found him talking to his mother in hushed tones. She crept up on them silently to find out what they were talking about._

"_Natsume-kin, you didn't tell her did you?" his mom asked, just to make sure._

"_Of course not, the baka would've gotten snot all over me."_

"_Well, we are going to their farewell party tomorrow so you better get ready." _

"_Of course mom."_

"_And don't call Mikan-chan an idiot when she's about to leave." His mom scolded._

"_It's true." Mikan ran before she heard what he said afterwards, "at the very least, she's my baka." He said with a cute smile._

_That was the first of many betrayals she experienced and it really hurt her as a kid as she barely got any friends and he even called her that which is why she controlled her thoughts to always stay away from him which is why she never told Hotaru about him and they never met._

_On the night of the party, she locked herself in her room and as Hotaru couldn't make it and was just going to come with her to the airport, Natsume was outside her door all night waiting for her to come out, having no idea what he did wrong. _

_The next day, she left without telling him anything, not a single word which made him think that she didn't want to be his friend anymore because he was unworthy. The death of his mother came a few months after and without much friends, he was left to comfort himself and his sister (note: he hasn't met Ruka yet)_

_End of Flashback_

She clutched the necklace in bitterness as she suddenly felt all the painful memories rushing in her mind. All those playtime they spent, only to find out he actually thought of her as stupid and didn't tell her that they were moving. He didn't know how much it hurt to have it to be separated from the only friends she ever had. At that time, she didn't have the luxury of picking friends, beggars couldn't be choosers but she was happy that she had Hotaru.

She never came down, she locked herself in her room for the rest of the night, quickly finishing the rest of her homework and just spent the rest of the night munching on junk food and watching Gossip Girl reruns, this rarely happened but she felt the need for a comfort night but she was the type of person who was so used doing it alone so she didn't find it awkward that the only sounds that were heard were the television's speakers and her munching.

- The next day

"Morning, darling. You never came down last night, is there any problem?" her mom asked as she shook her awake and asked with a worried tone.

She gave her a careless tone, "No, nothing at all."

She prepared for school as she just slung on her Rick Owens jumpsuit with a cardigan and open wedges. She put her hair into a side braid as she grabbed her fedora hat and headed off to school.

Everyone could feel the bad mood surrounding her as she was quiet through the trip and spoke only to greet then when they walked in. They wondered why considering she actually got what she wanted, she was the queen bee of the school.

"Anna-chan, do you know why's Mikan acting a bit off today?" Nonoko asked as they were in their second subject.

"I have no idea. Yesterday, she seemed quite happy. I wonder what happened." Anna replied as she played with her pencil waiting for the teacher for something to note down.

"I hope she'll be fine soon, she's going to be in a very high position and as she said Luna might be planning something so we've got to stay focused." The blue-haired girl commented, very much scared of what Luna might have under her sleeve, she's seen it time and time again that the girl never gave up without a serious fight.

"I hope so too." Anna agreed as she breathed out a sigh of unsureness.

LUNCH TIME, CAFETERIA

"Hotaru, were you able to get the homework for History?" Mikan asked as she twirled her carbonara but not quite eating it.

"Of course."

"Can I copy it? I wasn't able to awhile ago."

"I know, you were too busy staring into space." Hotaru said seemingly annoyed but secretly worried for her, as much as everyone else in the table.

"Where's Ai?"Mikan asked, to change the subject.

"She said she has a project to work on, which is also why she left early yesterday." Aoi said as she tapped her Yves Saint Laurent lace-up booties.

"Oh." She replied as she finally took the fork into her mouth and chewing slowly said, "Anyone seen Luna?"

"She's been MIA since lunch yesterday so it's either she's planning big and she moved to another school." Anna said.

"Well, I'd be more prepared for the first one." Hotaru said. Once she was able to catch Mikan's eyes, she raised a suspicious eyebrow asking the silent question.

"I was reminiscing last night." She simply replied not wanting to get into the topic more.

Unfortunately, for Mikan who was taking the day as slow as she could as to avoid confrontation, the day had ended and it was time for another study session with Natsume. She wearily got inside the car, at least, she convinced herself that after all these, she could go back into being bitchy Mikan.

"Hey, you going down?" Aoi asked as they stopped in front of the mansion. She took a look at her feet, seriously deciding if it would be worth skipping.

"Nah, tell him I can't come by today. I have something to do." She said as Aoi got off and the car sped away.

She got out and as she turned the gold handle of the door, never in a million years would she have expected to see Natsume standing there in all his Hyuuga glory. He seemed to be a bit out of breath, she wondered why but not enough to actually ask him.

She was about to close the door and just enter from the back when his eyes caught hers and she knew he wouldn't let her leave.

"Why did you skip?" he asked. How the hell did he know that? The most possible reason was that he drove fast the moment Aoi got home and got there ahead of them. Why did he want to make her study so much? He probably just wanted her out of his business. She stared angrily at him and the tears started forming in her eyes.

"Get out, Hyuuga!"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the somehow late update. I have just been busy with stuff, especially glee club practice. I go home late everyday this week because we have practice every single day. It's really starting to stress me out a lot. **

**Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter, I liked writing it and the poll is over! You shall find out who the traitor is this chapter though why do most of you think it's Hotaru? Maybe because it is her, read to find out who it is.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, I really do appreciate. By the way, I repost this every Thursday for people who missed the current update, just in case you see it.**

Twinkle 8

She seriously did not want to see him at this moment where she was the most vulnerable. No one deserved to see her like this. Still, he banged on her door asking to be let in.

She had ran up the stairs and was now curled up in her room wondering what she could possibly do with the guy who was outside and didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon. She couldn't tell him because then he'd remember her and how she looked before and would probably taunt her endlessly. She didn't see him capable of that but with the countless people that she had been wrong about, who knew if he was actually as indifferent as he seemed to be.

She just waited, and waited, and waited. After an hour or so, the knocking stopped. She got up and didn't unlock the door because chances are, he was still there waiting. She took a shower and got out still feeling heavy. She scheduled a major shopping trip the next day as that always seemed to cheer her up. She put on a hoodie and shorts with a headband as she plopped on her bed with her bag to the side and started doing homework.

Her eyes were just still a tad bit puffy, she finished in an hour and surfed the net. She opened her mac and opened facebook. She had a lot of notifications, she clicked on her wall where all her friends were asking what happened. Aoi probably told them and they all knew she wasn't busy and guessed that something was up.

She decided to tag them all and told them she was fine and just a bit tired. Several comments popped up at once, mostly out of relief. She thanked them all for their concern and out of boredom watched random videos on YouTube. She passed one about a 5 year old discussing her need to get a job before getting married (OMG, guys watch it if you haven't, it's the most adorable thing!). She remembered how she was when she was little and her innocence made her chuckle.

Compared to other people who wanted to go back to those days, she was fine in the present since she was better in the present. Maybe then she didn't carry the weight of the world, but it's not like she actually did that right now. She had other people to carry it for her.

She wanted to go down and get food but that would be risky so she opened the door of her mini fridge and was happy to find Haagen-dazs. She grabbed a pint and a teaspoon and just sat there all comfy and curled up in her blankets watching some chick flick that was about to end. She ate happily just cherishing the ice cream's sweetness.

Eventually, she finished and threw it in the bin and decided it was a good time to sleep. She looked at her bedside clock to find it was already midnight. She pulled the blankets up and quickly drifted off to dreamland that was filled of unwanted memories.

The next day….

She was on her way to school, after finding out Natsume had burst in her room a few minutes after she fell asleep. Once he saw her in that state, he left to go home. She felt a bit happy knowing he actually waited for her that long but that didn't mean she was going to tell him about the past. She was tapping her Miu Miu clad heels to the beat of 'Super Bass' when they arrived at Anna's who burst in to give her a hug.

"Are you absolutely sure you're okay?" she asked shaking her.

She gave her a giggle as she replied, "Of course, I really just was tired yesterday, it was like info overload."

"Well, you do seem a whole lot better." Anna commented to the smiling girl in front of her.

"I know, sorry for being AWOL yesterday. I promise to be a better alpha next time." She said.

Ai and Anna did the exact same thing, all fussing about how she was and she really did find it endearing just how much they cared. Had it been her previous friends, they probably wouldn't have noticed and probably gossiped about her behind her back.

Aoi and Hotaru seemed to show their care in their own ways but they were both relieved to see that she was acting a whole lot better than yesterday. Mikan was really in a good mood, as she hopped out of the car and as they walked to the school, there was an extra jump in her walk.

Everyone's eyes were on them. Most of them were whispering and giving them, or more specifically Mikan, disgusted looks. She gave them a deathly glare. There were some giggles from _freshmen _and she instantly knew something was wrong. Those 'midgets' would never get the courage to laugh in her face if there wasn't anything bad going on.

Just like that she knew.

There was going to be a change of plans.

She decided not to show her nervousness as they were about to strut in, but her legs were shaking just a tiny bit, at least it wasn't enough for her to trip in her sky-high heels. The moment she stepped in, she wished she had just stayed home. The temptation to fall to her knees was just as much as the one to run away.

There were childhood photos of her fat self about four years ago. They were plastered in almost every locker with her name underneath. It was the type of photo that just made you laugh instantly once you saw it, especially if you had no idea who the person was.

Luna stepped out of one room with a triumphant smirk on her face.

"Cat got your tongue?" she teased.

Mikan kept chanting in her head that she will not cry because that would only prove all the more that she was such a sore loser. She had no idea how people found out, she kept her past tightly under wraps.

"You're probably wondering how I did it. Well, I told you to be wary of who you were getting close to. I guess it's time you reveal yourself."

Mikan was too scared to look back and see who it was, but she already knew from the way the person walked to the scent that spread when she walked.

Ai.

She stood there cockily staring at her.

Ai, the girl who she gave a total makeover.

Ai, the one who seemed to be incapable of any evil.

"You never thought it would be me, didn't you? Was it because I seemed too helpless, utterly clueless? Well, I guess I played my part well." She said with such an arrogant tone that obviously showed that she believed she had won. She played all of them.

"Listen here, Luna is the queen of this school. No matter what you do, you can't be her." She emphasized her so bad they just wanted to rush up and punch her.

"I can't believe you. I thought you were better than this." Anna said.

"I just cannot believe I actually befriended such a lowlife." Nonoko growled in anger.

"Bitch." Was the only word Aoi said but it basically sufficed everything she felt. She put up with her and thought that she was a true friend, she couldn't believe this.

"What some people would do for power, despicable." Hotaru commented as she glared at the designer clothed girl. She wouldn't get here if it weren't for Mikan.

Mikan knew that this changed everything but a spark of hope lit up in her as she saw how the people stuck to her even after the secrecy she kept from them.

Suddenly, she saw Natsume come out of Luna's side and she couldn't believe it. She just prayed that he would stick by her after finding out the relationship they shared but she seemed to be outright wrong.

"Natsume-kun, we shouldn't go near such pretentious beings, we might get infected." Luna stupidly stated as she latched onto his arm.

"Pretentious, my ass." Natsume replied as he shrugged her away and moved towards Mikan.

He pulled her into a tight embrace where she just let go. She didn't care anymore at how much people were staring. She just cried hard on his shirt which was heavily wet now. He whispered comforting words into her ear as he knew she was beat down a lot. He heavily glared at the two girls and people suddenly started to switch sides.

They somehow felt inspired that Mikan had gone from that to the beauty she was now. Even in that very vulnerable state, she still looked so beautiful. They let Natsume bring her out into the garden knowing she needed time. They went onto their first subjects but not without giving Luna and Ai a piece of their mind.

"Where's your Natsume-kun now? I'm just so relieved my brother has good taste." Aoi asked as she stared blankly at Luna from head to toe.

"Karma really is a bitch, like you." Nonoko glared down at Ai as if she was a piece of dirt.

"Thought you had it all figured out, didn't you?" Anna rhetorically questioned as she bumped Luna on her way to the classroom.

"I can't believe you'd stoop down to that leech's level, I guess people really latch on to the only things they deserve." Hotaru stated with an eyebrow raised at the now tearing up face of Ai's. Hotaru had also called the school's headmistress who was going to give the two at least suspension and the cleaning crew had been contacted to bring down all the posters.

This was not how it was supposed to happen, Ai thought. They were supposed to revolt against Mikan and side with her, why was this happening? All her life she just wanted to be popular and when Luna made the offer along with money, she had willingly took it now she saw what a bad decision that was considering she wasn't only hated, but she was also getting suspended.

Meanwhile….

"So I was right…" Natsume muttered while they sat underneath the Sakura tree.

"About what?" Mikan asked while sniffling.

"About you being the Mikan I used to know." He replied as he felt her head lean on his shoulder.

"Well, yeah. I still hate you for that." She stated as she watched the birds in the sky.

"For being your friend?" Natsume asked incredulously wondering what he did wrong.

"No, about not telling me that we were leaving, I hated you for that." Mikan replied with a bit of bitterness in her voice.

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't like seeing you cry." Natsume said and Mikan almost wanted to smile at his cuteness.

"A child's logic." She said with some understanding.

"Exactly," he said as he got up and climbed the tree, "Wanna go up too?" he asked her.

She looked at him a bit scared as she never attempted too but watching his eyes stare at her like that with his hands held out to her, she couldn't refuse. She felt lucky that she decided to wear jeans today as it made it easier than if she wore a skirt.

As she was struggling a little to get up, Natsume was watching her and really saw the change that transpired with his childhood friend through the years, it was the hardest thing to believe that this was the chubby girl he used to buy ice cream with. She was sixteen and a beauty queen. Her curls just fell so naturally up to her waist and her olive green eyes that seemed to have gone through a lot of things.

"I can't believe I just did that." She said with a grin that almost made Natsume's heart flutter.

"Why not?" he asked as they both stared at the breath-taking horizon that was located in front of them.

"Remember before, you always climbed up and I was just left down there because I was too much of a wimp to actually go up." She reminisced as he did recall those times and he gave out a chuckle.

"A lot has happened since then, to both of us." Natsume commented as they had gone through just about everything before meeting again.

"Yeah, but sometimes change is just fucking annoying." Mikan said.

"At least, you get to start anew by moving here."

"Well, I'm just really happy that my friends, including your sister, still stuck up for me after that whole secrecy thing. I guess I found some pretty lasting friends here." She said with a relieved sigh afterwards.

"She's not so easily trusting, but once she does trust you, she'll be loyal for long time." Natsume muttered as he remembered how their dad broke their trust and he just wanted to punch the old man for doing that.

"Yeah, she's a bit like you. Anyway, when are we going back to class?" she asked.

"Maybe just a tad bit later, I'm not in the mood to go back."

"Me too, I just want to go out."

"Let's go then." Natsume said as Mikan stared at him disbelievingly.

"How are we going to get out? There are like a lot of guards at the gate, there's no way we can pass through them without one noticing." Mikan commented at his spontaneous plan.

"I have my ways." He replied as he jumped down and waited for her, but she eventually landed on her butt.

"Owww." She moaned rubbing the sore spot.

Natsume tried to keep in a laugh but it eventually came out, all deep and stuff, which cause him to receive a hard hit from Mikan but it didn't hurt him as much as she hoped it did. He took her wrist as she got up and led her to this bush by the wall. He crouched down and she followed suite. She was seriously wondering if he was just messing with her. She heard him push something and found it to be the part of the wall.

"Seriously? This is like righteous, how did they not find out about this?" she asked as they reached the outside as he closed off the wall again.

"Come on." He stood up and led her to his Ducati as she stared amazingly at its beauty.

"It's my baby, hop on." He said as he threw her a helmet which she barely caught and sat behind him. "I suggest you hold on if you plan to live." He warned with a smirk as they zoomed off and she instantly clutched at his shirt.

"Aren't we going too fast?" she asked a bit scared as she could barely see what they were passing, they just all seemed to be blurring at the speed he was going with.

"This isn't my definition of fast," he said as he sped up even more and Mikan just wanted to scream. He sensed her fear and slowed down a bit.

"Okay, are we there yet?' she asked as she had her eyes closed as she was just hugging him, and feeling his amazing abs, for her dear life.

He didn't answer but in a more or less a minute, the motorcycle came to a stop. She finally opened her eyes and saw that they were in front of a zoo.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

"I just wanted to see something. By the way, if you just wanted to feel my abs, you could've just told me." He said with a smirk as she still hadn't let go. The moment she heard that, she blushed and immediately let go of him.

"Whatever, let's go jerk." She said as they paid for the entrance and they were now inside of the big Tokyo zoo.

They bought popcorn and soda as they toured themselves. They finally arrived at the tiger's den and almost immediately one tiger approached them. Mikan took a step back, a bit scared of why he went to them. Suddenly, the caretaker saw them and made their way to them.

"Natsume, you're back after what, a year?" the middle-aged guy asked.

"Yeah Kazuki, sorry about that. I've been busy."

"He misses you, you know. Sometimes, he just sits there alone and all moody just like you when you're pissed off." Kazuki commented with a laugh.

Mikan was confused as hell, "Who is 'he'?" she asked.

"The tiger of course, Natsume you haven't told her the story."

"Nah, I was hoping you would," he stated as he stared at the girl beside him.

"Alright then, take a seat." He motioned to both of them as they approached him beside the bench.

"When Natsume was younger, his parents went to Africa and when they came back they brought with them the cutest white guy tiger cub. They were so in love with it, especially his mom Kaoru. Then the dreaded day came when she died and his dad couldn't stand looking at it so they sent him to the zoo as much as Natsume and Aoi hated it so here he is."

Mikan suddenly felt bad for Natsume and the cub. She went towards it and gave it a pat in the head. He nuzzled her hand and she felt herself giggle at it's adorable actions.

Natsume approached the two of them and the tiger's eyes quickly moved to his and Mikan could feel the closeness the two had. He brought out a brown paper bag and gave the slab of meat to him. The tiger happily ate it and the three watched contentedly until he finished. Natsume gave him a pat and the tiger immediately lied down and the lad gave him a belly rub in which the tiger loved.

"Cute." Mikan commented at the sight of the two. She brought out her phone and took a picture knowing moments like these rarely come.

Finally Natsume let go of the tiger and as he did, the tiger pulled his face closer to the cage that was separating them. Natsume gave him a final rub as he took Mikan's hand and walked away.

"Your bond with him is just unbelievable." Mikan said at the silent Natsume.

"Yeah, I do my best to visit him as rarely as possible." Natsume replied.

"Why?" she asked wondering why the hell he would prevent visiting the cute thing.

"I don't want him to get so attached to me because when something happens and I won't be there to visit him, I don't want him to go all sullen." He answered.

"I guess that's semi-valid." She stated as they rode once again and this time she opened her eyes trying to do her best to be brave but she still held on to him, just looser than awhile ago.

He stopped at a tall building. She thought what they could possibly do in there. They entered as he gave a nod to the guard. They entered the elevator which he pressed the top floor. The doors opened to a beautiful café located at the penthouse with an amazing view.

"How did you find this?" she asked in amazement.

"Ruka brought me here once and I instantly liked it. A lot of photographers come here to take pictures because of the great view."

They sat down as Mikan ordered a caramel frappe and Natsume ordred French Vanilla.

"I'm really starting to love this day." She said as she took in the aroma of her coffee.

"Me too." Natsume said with a smile that just made Mikan's heart skip a mile.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for my late update. It's just that we had our quarterly tests last week so I had to focus and we also had choir practice for a concert yesterday that went well, luckily enough. I got pretty good grades so I wasn't grounded or whatever and I am back. I will definitely update next week since we have a long weekend.**

**Thanks for all the reviews you sent, they are very empowering. I hope you are having a great time reading this, this next chapter is a bit uneventful just because the next one will be jam-packed. I hope you like it!**

Twinkle 9

As they finished up in the café, they decided to go out and just take a walk around. There were a lot of interesting shops, they even found one that sold gold guitars that cost well, a whole lot more than a normal one. Natsume stopped by a comic book shop and of course, she had no choice but to go in and follow him. She wasn't going to wait there in the heat when she could just come with him to see what it is exactly they came here for.

The moment the employee saw them, he immediately gave a smile at Natsume.

"Is it here already?" he asked and she almost laughed as she heard the childish want for whatever they were looking for.

"Yeah, it just arrived yesterday and Chiaki-san already reserved you a copy." Mikan assumed Chiaki was probably the owner of the establishment.

"Tell her I said thanks." He replied as they were led into the farthest part of the bookstore where the mangas were. The guy disappeared into a room nearby and they were left there to wait for him.

"Didn't know you were a geek." Mikan teased with a laugh.

"Says the girl who watched the whole series of Big Bang Theory." He retorted with a grin.

"How did you know about that?" she asked.

"I have my ways." He replied with a smirk.

"Whatever, they're much cooler than mangas." Mikan defended.

"I think a lot of people here would beg to differ." Natsume said.

Just in time, the guy got out of the door holding a copy of some manga Mikan didn't know. Natsume hastily grabbed it, seeming so excited that Mikan just ended up letting out a giggle.

"You're like a little kid." She said with one of her true smiles.

"Shut up." He replied with a glare.

They got out and walked around a little bit more until they felt like they've gone to everywhere and they decided to go back to his ride and drove off again.

"Where are we going now?" Mikan asked as she finally got used to the inhumane speed.

"It's a secret."

"You never tell me where we're going." She whined as they sped past the city. "Oh my gosh, are you secretly a serial killer? You can take my bag, it has all my money in it!" she cried scared for her life.

"If I wanted to kill you, I would've done it a long time ago and besides, I don't need your money." He replied as a reminder that both of them were rich.

"Ugh, I just hope we're near already." She said as she finally grew silent and just enjoyed the wind blowing through her face.

Natsume looked back at her because of her silence and regretted it. He instantly felt the blush rushing to his cheeks as he watched her eyes closed with her hair dancing in the wind and it was just an enchanting sight to see. He quickly turned back before she saw that he was ogling.

After a few more minutes, they had finally arrived and Mikan opened her eyes and saw the most beautiful view she ever witnessed. She had not seen anything like this when she was in America, probably because she didn't really look for it, but this was really something.

They were at the edge of a cliff above the whole city just when it was sunset. In the sky, you could see the amazing blending of different shades of orange that just felt heart-warming. Underneath, was a breath-taking view of the city that was simply stunning. It made Mikan feel like she was part of something bigger. It was truly spectacular sight to behold.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" he said looking at her awe-struck expression.

She didn't reply knowing he obviously knew her response. She just stared at the endless horizon when a scent reached her nose. She turned to glare at him for ruining the moment.

"You know I hate smoking." She pointed out, sometimes it was hard to believe that he was the guy she used to slide with but then again, I think he may feel the same way too.

"You know I can't live without this." He retorted as he took another puff.

"You know you won't live with this." She replied with a glare as she took it from his hands and threw it to the cliff.

"Hey, that was electric, it's not as cheap as you think." He said getting mad.

"I'm sure you can replace it." She replied pretty sure he could.

"That was imported and limited edition."

"Then order another one from the internet, I don't care!" she said yelling.

She didn't know why she was so mad, she'd had a lot of smoker friends and it didn't seem to bother her as much as when she saw _him _doing it. She just let out a sigh of frustration and fished through her bag.

"Where are we?" she asked him.

"Why?" he asked still with a hint of anger in his voice.

"I'll just ask my driver to pick me up." She replied as she waited for him to tell with her phone in hand.

"I can take you home." He said annoyed at the suggestion.

"It's fine." She replied.

"It would be more troublesome to call for your driver since this is a remote area. It would take him awhile to find it I'm sure." He said.

"Gosh, fine then let's just go." She whined as they both got on the ride and it was once again silent. It seemed forever but finally, she was home. She felt a bit guilty during the ride considering he took her everywhere she wanted and she got mad at him over such a petty thing but she was just a tad bit too proud to actually apologize to the raven-haired lad in front of her.

She got off and before she could even say goodbye, he had already sped off.

She came in feeling a bit sad but not as much as this morning. She switched into pajamas as she called Hotaru.

"Idiot, where have you been?" Hotaru asked the moment she picked up.

"Sorry, I took a day off." She apologized. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Where'd you go?" Hotaru asked nonchalantly.

"A lot of places." She replied, too tired to name them all.

"With who?"

"Natsume."

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with him, remember what I told you." Hotaru once again warned.

"I know but he's actually my childhood friend so I'm going to give him a chance." She said.

"He's your childhood friend? How come I never knew him?"

"You were away when we met and when I was about to introduce you to one another, I had to move." Mikan explained. It was very near to the truth, she just didn't feel like expounding as of the moment.

"Ah." She replied and hung up.

She went down and grabbed a quick fix, in the form of fish and chips. She just sat there dipping her mojos into garlic mayo when her phone in her pocket vibrated. She opened it only to find her mom in the caller id.

"Hey mom, what's up?" she asked as she took a bite at the succulent fish fillet mixed with the tanginess of the dip (I'm hungry…).

"Mikan, I heard you skipped school." Her mom scolded.

"I don't' think that's anything new." She replied uncaringly.

"I thought you'd change." Her mom said disappointed.

"What, would I suddenly change just because we moved? I don't think it's that automatic just because we moved that I'd instantly change." She said feeling bad and just accidentally letting it out of her mother.

"Mikan, I didn't expect you to change suddenly, I just thought the change of air would bring you some good. Who were you with today?" her mom asked worried.

"Natsume." She softly replied.

"Oh, your childhood friend?" her mom asked disbelievingly.

"Yes." She meekly replied.

"Oh, how is he doing?" her mom asked, her anger suddenly disappating.

"He's doing fine." She replied. "I'm busy, I'll call you later, bye." She hung up and savoured more of her food. Once she was done, she went back up to ask the others for any news she missed.

She texted Aoi and she replied,

'Dummy, we only share one subject and there's no homework about that though the whole school was buzzing about you and Natsume.'

Well, yeah that was a pretty dumb move. She texted Anna and Nonoko, they both quickly replied.

'OMG, where were you? Did you and Natsume do anything… *suggestive wink* If you did, you have to tell us all about it tomorrow. Anyway, you missed a quiz in History and there's going to be a project. You and Natsume are partners since you were the only ones not there ~Anna'

Wow, what nice timing. She could only imagine what awkwardness would ensue tomorrow. Man, she felt a bit, no, a lot stupid right now. She just wanted to crawl into a hole and wait until everyone who knew her got amnesia.

She finally finished her food and left to go back to her room. She turned on the television just to watch reruns of 'Gossip Girl' and wishing everything would go right just as it always seemed to for some of them. I mean sure, there are a lot of scares but in the end Blair gets married to a prince.

It really seemed like a fairytale dream come true but she would much rather have ended up with Chuck. It's not like he was anywhere near poor, the prince was amazing and all but the chemistry with Blair and Chuck was so much more potent.

She finished the episode almost crying and proceeded to go to the bathroom to have her bedtime shower. She finished in fifteen minutes as she drifted off to sleep almost scared to wake up.

She was on her way to picking up Hotaru when her phone suddenly rang. She pushed it out of her pocket and looked at the caller id that said 'Anna'. She immediately answers.

"Hey." She said.

"Are you coming with us to the beach?" Anna asked.

"Huh?" she asked getting confused.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you yesterday, we're going to the beach today! We're leaving in two hours at Aoi's house." Anna explained.

"Huh? What about school?" Wow, she thought to herself. She actually wants to go to school, there really must be something wrong with her.

"It's holiday sill, wait, don't tell me. Are you on the way to pick us up?" Laughter obviously evident in her question.

"Of course not." Her voice suddenly trying to sound relaxed. "I'm just chilling at home, having my toenails painted. I'll be at Aoi's in awhile." She said as she shut her phone not wanting to seem more lying. She looked at her social calendar and indeed there was a red circle on today.

She told her driver to drive back home and told the maids to pack a complete needs for her beach trip. She got home to them fussing in her closet. She sent all of them out and just told them to pack food and toiletries. She picked three swimsuits and jammed them into her Gucci duffel bag.

She changed into Elizabeth and James tank top with a denim skirt and Opening ceremony gold sandals. She went down with her duffel on one shoulder and her phone in hand as the rest of her luggage was loaded into the van. She was just about to leave when she heard her dad call her name.

"What?" she asked already knowing the concern.

"Are you going to the beach?" her dad asked. She wasn't sure if he found out because of the maids or because of what she was wearing.

"How'd you know?" she asked suspiciously.

"Your friends called to ask for your permission while you were preparing." So she was wrong about her two guesses.

"And you said yes." She said as she skipped out the oak doors.

"Be careful." He yelled as she was getting in. She blew him a goodbye kiss as she slid the window up and slid her aviator sunglasses and listened to music as she waited for their arrival.

She watched as the Hyuuga's maids got her luggage and transferred it into the huge van. She entered to see them all in the waiting room, all eyes turned on her and she and surprised to see it wasn't only the girls who were waiting. Koko and the others were also staring at her and she immediately knew that Natsume was also looking at her which suddenly made her feel so self-conscious.

She looked for the nearest mirror in the room and she decided she looked fine so she looked back at them and shot them a photogenic smile.

"Hey, you guys! Sorry I'm late!" she said even if she knew the apology was unneeded.

"It's okay, Mikan-chan. It gave us some preparation time. Okay, I guess it's time to go!" Anna said as she got up and the others followed suite.

They guys went off first, getting dibs on the back seats. They had another car for the luggage as they entered the wide van. There were four people in the back, namely Ruka, Natsume, Koko and Youchi. The front seat was occupied by Hotaru while Aoi, Anna, Nonoko and Mikan were in the middle.

They immediately turned on the radio as they bopped their heads to 'Stereo Hearts' by Gym Class Heroes.

"My heart's a stereo, it beats for you so listen close!" Koko and Anna sang along at the very catchy beat.

The others hummed along to it. Eventually, the song ended. After an hour or so of random conservation, they got hungry and the chips and sodas were brought out. It was passed around and Mikan's hand brushed with Natsume but she did her best to ignore it. It was merely a brush.

We finally arrived at the amazing resort owned by the Yome's. The white sand seemed endless the moment they parked and their bags were sent to their respective rooms.

"This is amazing!" Anna squealed.

"I want to swim already." Nonoko replied.

"Wait, we haven't even given you the grand tour yet." Koko remarked with a boyish grin.

We followed them into the gazebo where we all ordered shakes of different fruity flavours.

"So this is the mini bar. They don't serve alcohol during mornings but they do serve hangover cures. At night time, they have a pretty big list to choose from." Koko explained as he took a sip from pineapple shake.

They went off with shakes in hand, towards the beach.

"This is the first beach among the three we'll be going to later on. This is the smallest," it was hard to believe considering it seemed the size of a regular mall. "The activities are done here. There will be a campfire later on. So where do you want to go next?"

"Can we see the rooms?" Aoi asked as she wanted to see how big it was.

"Sure." They went into the bohemian-styled building filled with golden drapes and aquamarine curtains. They rode the elevator and was led to the top floor.

"The bags were already put in your rooms. Natsume and Ruka are in room 4. Me and Yuu are in Room 5. Across us in Room 8 is Anna and Nonoko. And beside them is Mikan and Hotaru."

They went to their rooms and smiled in appreaciation. There was a glass door leading to the terrace and the design of the room was minimalist and they each had a walk-in closet and a big bathroom. There were two wooden beds beside each other separated by a table. In front of both beds was a big flat screen television. They each had a mini fridge stocked with all kinds of drinks and some microwavable food.

"This is pretty cool." Mikan commented as she switched the television on.

"He didn't provide enough crab roe." Hotaru replied as she checked the fridge.

She gave a chuckle at the statement and wondered what the others are doing.

"Man, we are so lucky to have a day at the beach with such hot girls!" Koko exclaimed at his luckiness.

"You shouldn't call girls hot." Yuu said.

"I'll tell Nonoko you said that." Koko teased as he got hit in the head by a pillow.

"What are we doing after this?"

"I don't know, grab some lunch or something."

They were all about to go to the restaurant to grab lunch when-

"Natsume!" they heard a high pitched voice shout which made them all instantly wince.

They turned around to see a girl in a red dress and espadrilles who was staring at Natsume with a big smile. They then turned to Natsume who looked very pissed to see her.

"Natsume, I haven't seen you in the longest time!" she said excited.

"You know Sumire?" Koko asked incredulously.

"I wish I didn't." he remarked.

"Koko, why didn't you tell me you knew Natsume? I still can't believe you are here, I missed you so much. Why'd you leave me at the party?"

At the question, everyone's imagination ran wild and Natsume knew this so he all sent them a glare.

"I told you I didn't want to see you again." He muttered.

"I knew you didn't mean that, you sly fox." Sumire said in an apparently seductive tone that gave everyone chills.

"I suggest you leave before he explodes." Koko advised watching the hardening knuckles of the lad beside him.

"Fine, but only because I know he's stopping himself from leaving with me because he has to put up with," she said then looking at all of them as if disgusted, "things and that includes you."

An awkward silence ensued.

"Hyuuga, who was she?" Hotaru demanded for future blackmail uses.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." He cryptically replied.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I finally updated after a week which is normal so I don't know why I'm so happy, probably because it's a holiday and holidays make me happy. Doesn't it make you feel happy too? **

**Whatever, I just had a sleepover so I'm still hung up and it was fun having it with twenty-five other people, it got a bit sappy but it was a happy event hands down.**

**It's been raining hard so the internet's been having mood swings so I only got to update today. I still hope you're reading this in hopes of receiving a review. Pretty please? I didn't receive much so yeah, I was hoping for a lot more with this chapter, don't disappoint!**

"Natsume, I really would've never thought Sumire would be here and that you'd know each other. I know she can be pretty annoying but we're family friends so I'm not allowed to tell her off."

"Didn't you just do that?" Mikan asked.

"True, maybe it's my hunger speaking. Let's go eat already!" he said as he ran towards the glass doors of the establishment.

The moment they entered, a wonderful scent surrounded them as the restaurant was given the scent of lavender. They were given a table for eight as they ordered their choices in the menu while the waitress shamelessly batted her eyelashes at the four guys in front of him.

"Is there anything more you might want?" she asked seductively as if hoping one of them would answer 'you'.

"Nah, we're good." Koko replied as he gave back their menus to the wannabe waitress.

"Well, that was disturbing." Aoi pointed out.

"Nah, we're used to that. We've learned to ignore her completely and leave before she could ask for any of our numbers." Ruka replied with a smile.

"I'm so hungry, when is the food arriving?" Nonoko asked.

"The waiter just left, why are you so hungry anyway?"

"I woke up late so I skipped breakfast." She explained to Koko.

"Here." Mikan opened her bag and handed her a pack of biscuits her parents had brought back from some country. She had no idea how it tasted like so she gave it to Nonoko for testing.

"Thanks." She opened it and took the vanilla-filled chocolate biscuit and gave a sigh of appreciation. "This is so yummy, where'd you get it?"

She looked at the back of the pack as she couldn't understand the writing so she really couldn't tell where it came from but one thing she knew for sure, it was very delicious.

"I don't know, my mom bought a box so we have a lot at home." She said, deciding she'd taste one once they arrived.

While they were in discussion of this, the others were talking about possible things to do after lunch. The girls had decided to go shopping at the mall inside that contained endless summer wardrobe while the guys would go to the paintball field and have some fun. Then they'd prepare for the campfire later at six in the evening.

"The food's here!" Nonoko said very appreciatively. It had barely been ten minutes since the order.

They all received their appetizers which mostly consisted of different kinds of salad , soup and bread. They all ate the food with profound etiquette as they were used to in all the other restaurants they've been too, because otherwise, the staff won't take you seriously and no one wanted them to be treated like jokes.

"Natsume, why aren't you eating your croutons?" Ruka asked as Natsume just finished his soup leaving the croutons now located at the bottom of the bowl.

"I don't like it when it's not crunchy anymore." He replied.

"Okay, whatever."

After an hour of eating and talking, they finally finished their food and paid for the money; well Koko did, after some convincing since he didn't really pay for it.

"Ok, so Koko said the mall was a few blocks away. He told us we can just ride the bus which will be arriving here in five minutes." Anna said as they waited for the ride.

They discussed potential wardrobe choices for the campfire.

"What are you going to wear Mikan?" Nonoko asked.

"I know it will be very casual so I'll probably go with a cute top I'll find later with denim shorts and espadrilles." She replied as she looked at her nails to see if it had chipped in any part so she can have it fixed later.

"That's a pretty nice outfit. I'll just think of something when we get there." Anna replied just as the red bus arrived and they rode for a few minutes.

"Wow, this is pretty big." Mikan commented at the five-story mall that was quite big when it was located inside a resort.

"I'm so excited!" Anna squealed.

"Do you think they have a gadget store in here? I need to buy something." Hotaru remarked.

They went towards the directory and found that there was one at the top floor. She left them without saying goodbye and just told them that she will meet them somewhere. How? They seriously had no idea. They walked around first to see which shops would be good to get into.

They first went into a cute store, 'Bella Bianca' which sold just the most adorable things. Each of them got these bracelets that had charms in them, they decided to get one for Hotaru too. Mikan bought a floral wrap top that was sheer so she was going to war her swimsuit underneath while Anna got a cute sailor styled dress and Nonoko got a pair of nude oxford shoes.

As they made their way to different stores, Hotaru was still nowhere to be found and they were almost wondering if she was going to turn up only when they were gone.

Aoi decided it was time for some snacks so they stopped by at Starbucks to get a cake slice which they all ate happily as they drank their respective coffee drinks.

"I feel like I'm in heaven." Nonoko said as she took a sip of he caramel macchiato. They were just about to finish when they saw something familiar.

"Hey isn't that Sugira, Samine? Whatever, I just know her name starts with an S." Nonoko said as they heard her loud heels clacking. They had to admit she looked like a model but definitely not the friendly type. She had an annoyed look on her face as if she wanted to shove everyone else out of the line.

"She looks really mean." Anna commented.

"She's exclusively nice." Aoi said as she stared at the long legs exposed by her barely there dress.

"How do you know?" Mikan asked but it seemed to be the case. She could bet that she was an extreme suck up when needed to.

"I actually know her, I just didn't want to mention it while the other guys were there though Natsume-niisan knows that I know her, it just seems weird talking about it with them." She replied as she took a bite from her biscotti.

"Why do you know her?" Nonoko asked.

"Our families are connected. They rank twelfth in Japan with their cosmetic line, Shouda Enterprises so we get them every time we need make-up artists for modelling shoots. We met at one party which we held and she instantly fell for my brother." Mikan rolled her eyes at how fast some girls 'fall' for him. "So she did her best to flirt with him and seduce him hoping to be his girlfriend, when that didn't work out she decided to do connections, so she befriended me in order to get to him. It was so easy to see through her acts so I just ignored her. She got mad because she was used to being worshipped so she made me a loser in our school by spreading fake rumors." She said in an angry voice.

"She goes to our school?" Anna asked disbelievingly. The other two also stared in shock.

"Well, she stopped and switched to home-schooling because she considered modelling far more important." Aoi replied suddenly losing her appetite.

"Talk about right priorities." Anna commented as she took another sip of her caramel frappe.

"How does Koko know her?" Nonoko asked curiously.

"I have no idea, all I know is I'd rather not see her now." She said as she got up and the others followed knowing how she feels as they got out before she caught a glimpse of them.

"Hotaru, you're here!" Mikan exclaimed as she saw her drinking soda as they got out of the café.

"Where are we going now?" she asked nonchalantly as if daring them to ask her where she's been but they were smarter than that.

"Well, we still have to get accessories." Aoi replied so they headed to Betsey Johnson where Anna got a pair of heart drop earrings, Nonoko bought the cutest pink bangle bracelet and Aoi got a bow and fireball crystal drop earrings.

"Well, it's getting late and you know how long Mikan takes prepping up, so I suggest we leave now." Aoi said as she took a glance at the clock which read four in the afternoon. The others nodded in agreement so they made their way back to the hotel where they had full prepping up equipment.

"Where did all these come from?" Anna asked at the complete set for hairstyling and make-up.

"It was brought by yours truly. It was a no brainer that we were going to need it." Mikan said as they brought out all they bought and spread it in the bed.

"Okay let's first work on hair. I'm going with a messy up do with a rose hairclip I bought a while ago. Anna and Nonoko, what are you planning?" she asked them.

"Well, we're both going to do braid but different types, I want a fishtail braid and Nonoko's getting a French braid." Anna replied while running her hands through her hair.

"I'm just getting a sleek ponytail and I'll just spray some of your temporary highlights, preferably the light brown one." Aoi said as she grabbed the light brown from the table while reading the instructions.

"Okay, Hotaru doesn't want to talk about her preferred hairstyle so let's get to work. Aoi, we'll be partners while Anna and Nonoko work on each other's braids. Hotaru, everything you need is in this table. Let us begin!" she said excitedly.

In a few minutes or so, they were all done with their hair and proceeded to make-up. "Okay so this is a campfire we're going to so I suggest something very light. I'll just be going for a bit of bronzer and lip gloss. You guys go and use what you want."

In the process of doing this, the doorbell rang. Anna volunteered to answer it as she was almost done. She opened to see an employee giving her and envelope, leaving before she could say thanks.

"What is it?" Mikan asked while pressing her MAC lip gloss over her lips.

"I shall see."

She opened it to see a brown invitation inside that simple said,

_Good day to all!_

_This invitation guarantees five entries to the campfire that shall be held later today at the ungodly hour of six, we hope to see you there!_

"It's an invitation for later." Anna said as she finished reading the eco-friendly invitation.

They continued and then went on to the outfits. They watched Mikan as she judged their laid out clothes on their beds.

"Anna, go with the polka-dot dress and flip flops. Nonoko, I think the loose striped shirt with the denim shorts and sandals would be a good combination. Aoi, I like the metallic gold tank top with the leather vest and denim capri and Hotaru, well you placed one outfit and I like it so yeah."

They changed into their gorgeous outfits and by the time they were done it was a quarter to six. They grabbed their bags and headed outside where it was just about sunset.

"It's so pretty." Anna commented as they walked towards the party where the sky was very visible.

"I could watch it all day." Aoi replied as the calmness of the setting was just an irrefragable sight to behold. It was almost melancholic to all the days that have passed that were wasted but before they could dwell on that, they had arrived at the designated venue where there was a big sign that said 'campfire' with tiki torches at the entrance. They stopped to give their invitation and was surprised to see there were only a few people.

It was a very limited amount to what they had estimated. There was them and just about twenty more people which was few considering the very big space occupied by the party.

There were tents set up around a big campfire and there was a tray in each side that had marshmallows and other stuff that could be used. They particularly liked the ones for smores and vowed to one another that they will come back for it later on. They found the guys in the biggest tent because Koko went out to get drinks.

"You guys are late!" he scolded once he saw them.

"We're right on time!" Aoi replied.

"We've been here since five o'clock. Oh well, have you guys seen Natsume?" he asked as he grabbed a bottle of something looking around.

"No, isn't he here yet?" Mikan asked thinking he'd be with them.

"Well he initially was, then he went off to who the hell knows where. He likes doing that a lot, Ruka gets all worried which makes us all question his sexuality." He said as a joke which made them smile.

"So what are we going to do now?" Nonoko asked.

"Get in the tent while we wait for the party to start." He said as he opened it for them.

"I think I'll stay behind, I want to see this place more." Mikan said as she left them to take a stroll by the seaside. She finally sat down, and just closed her eyes to the calming sound of the waves that just immediately sent her to a world of wonderful silence. She opened them only to see something, rather someone a bit far from her but she knew that tousled raven hair anywhere.

"Hyuuga!" she shouted as his head turned and true enough, it was him in a hoodie and beach shorts.

She suddenly realized they were in a fight over some stupid thing so she decided to pretend that it wasn't her and hoped that he didn't notice it was her since there were a few other people by the seaside.

She just gazed at the shells in all their prettiness when she heard sand shuffling heading towards her.

"You didn't actually think I'd think it was someone else when you're the only one who knows me here?" he asked rhetorically.

She kept quiet, doing her best to ignore him and if forced, she'd act totally clueless. At her lack of a response, he kept a steady gaze at her and she almost winced at the intensity. She just fixed her gaze at the endless horizon laid out in front of her.

"I really don't get why we're fighting." Natsume said in a bit of frustrated tone. "And that's me speaking." He said as if telling her he's so much smarter.

"Am I supposed to apologize for nothing?" she asked still not looking at him.

"Would you stop being stubborn?" he asked loudly, causing a few eyes to turn but with the help of his glare, they were gone in a flash.

"We're going to be late so I think it's time to go back." She said as she stood up to head for the party where the host's voice could be heard distinctly.

"Would you stop changing the subject?" he asked as he roughly grabbed her wrist and she got pulled into his arms and as much as she'd hate to admit it, she could feel his abs through the closeness that he pulled her into.

She kept silent, seriously not knowing what to say that wouldn't get him reeling off the edge because she was scared of what exactly it was he could be capable of doing to her.

"Look, I'm sorry." He said as he loosened his grip on her. She looked up just in time to see his ruby eyes looking at her while running his hand through his hair. If she wasn't in such a dramatic predicament, she probably would've blushed.

"I didn't follow your rule or something, I don't really remember how we ended up like this, but you're my childhood friend who I never want to lose again." He said and she was surprised considering how she knew he was just as proud, if not more, than she was.

"I'm sorry too," she finally replied after a few seconds of silence. "for overreacting. It's just that I'm worried about your health since it doesn't seem to be a once a day thing for you to smoke and I just want you to stay as fit as you are right now."

"Yeah, I know you can feel my abs." he replied with a smirk while she hit him in the chest.

"You really know how to ruin a scene, don't you?"

His only reply was a chuckle that got her feeling all tingly inside. She ignored it of course, he just said it awhile ago, they were childhood friends and childhood friends don't date each other, that just makes a sappy movie. Besides, boys were not her priority as of the moment, social status was on the line so that was a definite first.

"Are we planning on going to the party?" she asked him a few minutes later when they were both settled down in the sand with a beach mat underneath them. The stars had just started to come out and it was a very pretty sight.

"Nah," he replied as he lied down to stare at the constellations, "unless you want to." He added as an afterthought.

Well, she sort of wanted to because it was a party meaning, it was a chance to socialize, gain several connections that might be useful in the future, but being there at that very moment just made it seem all so superficial to her, probably because it was but right now, she'd rather enjoy this moment.

"It's fine, they'll survive," she said as she lied down too, "I hope." She continued with a giggle.

"I love these moments." She said as she closed her eyes and let herself be drowned by the sounds of the waves, forgetting about all the troubles that have been surrounding her the past days.

"I didn't think you were the type who would." He remarked.

"There are a lot of things you know about me." She replied.

"Same goes to you about me, but I seriously thought you'd much rather party, even if it's a campfire, than be with me here lying on the sand talking about nothing."

"Oh come on, it wasn't necessarily nothing." She teased.

"You know what I mean. That question was a bit of a test actually, I wanted to see how much you've changed." He confessed, revealing his intentions.

"I wouldn't miss a chance to catch up but why do you and Hotaru keep checking on me about change? I mean I get it, I got prettier and it came with me being meaner, it's the same lecture every time, seriously." She complained with all the hand gestures.

"It's just that yes, I have to admit you became a lot hotter but it didn't have to come with the meaner attitude. I know a lot of beautiful people that are nice." He was lying, he did know a lot of beautiful people but most of them weren't nice but there were a few.

"I don't know, I guess it was almost a package that arrived for me. I didn't want to be mean but I've gotten used to it and right now, that's just who I am."

"You've said it yourself, you didn't want to be mean and I know it may be the rarest thing to have a nice queen bee but it will be a refreshing change and I know you know it too."

"The thing with that 'being nice' as you may call it is that it's the easiest thing to be thought of as a goody goody and you're off the throne before you know it."

"Why is it so important to you to become popular?" he asked since he clearly had no idea what was so good about it.

"It shows me how far I've come, the power I hold over so many people, the influence I have on people who I don't even know, it's just a relishing feeling that I love and I'm sorry at how superficial and self-centered I sound but you'd have no idea since you were always liked in school."

"I wasn't always liked, I know I have haters."

"Yeah, they hate you because they're jealous. I had people hating me out of disgust, tell me which is better." She asked almost bitterly.

"The thing is, you find out who your true friends are and I guess that's worth more than the fame."

"Since when did you go all sappy?" she teased with a knowing smirk. "But fine, because I agree to your very cliché statement, I promise to be nicer." She vowed while crossing her fingers.

"Promise?" he said untangling them. Maybe it was a bit of a problem if her heart will keep jolting like that every time he touched her.

"I promise I will be a good girl daddy." She said with a laugh.

"About that cliché thing, I've heard something interesting about them. They say that clichés just turn out to be clichés because they are so true and the only reason they keep getting repeated is because people keep forgetting." He replied.

**A/N: OMG, the chapter is done! I hope you like it, I mean I stuffed it with NatsuMikan before cooking it in my documents. So was it yummy? Spicy? Salty? Just a tad bit too sweet?**

**Tell me in you awesomely long review that does not simply say 'update' because I will and that statement does not make me go into super hurry mode.**

**Xoxo,**

**Bubblefizz001**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Wow, why do my updates just appear at the most random days? I'm totally sorry for this; anyway if you don't get to read it, I shall repost it on Sunday most likely so yeah.**

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews I received in the previous chapter, I totally appreciate it. I love all of it and I totally am thankful that I haven't received any flames but all I'm requesting is that you give a slightly longer one rather than just saying 'Update!' because I really will I promise. I will finish this and I am far from done, that much I can promise.**

**I just finished my Macbeth soliloquy which was an utter fail since I forgot some lines, ugh!**

**So yes, I don't own Gakuen Alice and the songs here, I love the Maine!**

"I bet they're looking for us." Mikan said as she looked at a shell she found beside her.

"I bet they're looking for you. They know I have a knack of disappearing without notice." He replied.

"Well, i think it's time for us to make our grand entrance." She replied with a smile as she put the shell in her pocket both as a souvenir and as a remembrance of this nice experience with her childhood friend because for her, nothing seemed to last so long.

"Fine, but you have to keep that promise."

"Of course, I will. I keep all of my promises." She stated, "Well, almost all." She added as an afterthought.

They stood up and brushed off as much sand as they can off their clothes. She grabbed her bag and pulled out a pack of mints. She popped one into her mouth and offered him one but he declined.

They gave their names to the bouncer as he let them in to see the party was already in full swing. They looked for them and it was pretty easy since there were just a few people that added when they fist arrived.

They were seated by the campfire, holding smores on sticks obviously having fun. The moment their eyes laid on them, they knew that they were in trouble.

Aoi hurried towards them, "Where have you two been?" she asked. "We thought you were totally skipping on the whole party."

"We got caught up and stuff."

"Were you doing drugs?" Anna asked horrified.

"Something like that." Mikan replied with a giggle. The ones who knew it was impossible smirked knowing Natsume wouldn't bring her into those stuff. He may be bad but he kept his deeds to himself. He never got one of them involved. The others who didn't get it so much all stared at the two of them disbelievingly.

"I want smores." She commented as she walked off with Natsume behind her.

"He gave her…" Koko trailed off. It earned him a hard hit in the head from Hotaru.

"Twit. You know he wouldn't do that to his childhood friend." She said.

"They're childhood friends?" they all asked shocked.

"No, I was lying." She replied sarcastically.

"How do I not know this?" Aoi asked seriously not seeing how that could happen.

"You were very young and she moved to America." She replied.

"Oh." She said at the endless logic of her friend.

"Well, now that we're complete, let's start this party!" Koko whooped .

Once the two got back with their smores, the host returned since he went on a break to get some food. Mikan turned to see him and he looked pretty hot. He had blonde hair and an unexplainable charm

"Alright, guys the party's just getting started! Our next activity would be hosted by my friend, Tsubasa." The spotlight moved to a guy with blue hair and a star under his eye. He gave the crowd a cheeky smile as he proceeded to the stage. Mikan couldn't believe her eyes, was that seriously her cousin? She tried to get his attention but he seemed to be taking his hosting too seriously to actually notice her.

"Okay, so are you guys having fun?" he shouted as a lot of screams were heard.

"So our next activity is karaoke and no, it is not voluntary to that guy with that spiky brown hair." He said to Koko who was volunteering very happily. "We will get a random name from our list of party people and you will be forced to sing in stage so I'm sorry if you've got absolutely no talent at this, we will just video your shame and post it on YouTube."

They gave a laugh at this, but there were some that definitely seemed to be nervous of getting called.

"Alright, don't worry we'll let you pick the song but if you really suck, I'm sorry. Okay the first is …. Haha I knew you'd get called, Misaki!"

The light moved to a pink-haired girl that was currently giving Tsubasa a very lethal glare. "You did this on purpose, you just want to hear me sing!"

"You wish I wanted to hear you sing, you're growing a tad bit too cocky dear." He teased as he got kicked in the leg. "Owww, that fucking hurt!" he yelled.

"I hope it did, now get off the stage!"

Mikan knew that she liked her the moment they came on stage, she seemed like a fun person to be with. She was off to the snack table to get some punch when she saw the host also getting some food.

"Hey." He greeted her with a smile as he grabbed a pack of Cheetos.

"Great party." She commented as she grabbed a cup and was pouring punch.

"Yeah, it's so fun to get all hyped up."

"Without getting drunk." She added and he laughed in agreement.

"So what's the interesting story between those two?" she asked curiously while pointing her glass to Tsubasa who was watching Misaki with a big smile as she sang to 'Best Thing I never had' by Beyonce. She did it with several dance moves and she was pretty, no doubt.

"You know, I've known them for so long so I'd say it's the both in denial sort of thing they most likely have going on. When they're together, they fight like a married couple but when you see one without the other and tease them about being together, they go all flustered. It's quite amusing actually." He replied with a grin.

"I bet it is." She replied as Misaki just finished and was heading towards them.

"Yeah, he's pretty hot but he's not looking for a relationship right now, right Kaname?" Misaki asked as she put an arm around him.

"Oh right, I'm Kaname." He said realizing he hasn't introduced himself yet.

"I'm Mikan." She replied as she shook the hand he held out.

"I'm Misaki." The pink-haired girl said as she greeted Mikan with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you." She was about to speak further when Tsubasa picked the next singer.

"Okay so that will be a tough act to follow, the unlucky person is," he picked from the bowl and said, "oh, another girl, I think. Please come up the stage, Mikan Sakura who also happens to be my cousin. What are you doing here?" he said and she just stared dumbfounded.

"Go Mikan!" her friends cheered as they hauled her up the stage.

She gave him a glare that threatened him less time in their amazing house.

She hadn't song in such a long time, seriously that is. It's not that she had the worst sound ever but it wasn't exactly a passion. She grabbed the microphone and gave the crowd a smile. There were a couple of whistles but were shushed by Natsume's heavy glare.

"I guess I'll sing Edge of Glory." She said and waited for the music to come on.

The music started as she took a deep breath.

_There ain't no reason you and me should be alone_

_Tonight, yeah baby_

_Tonight, yeah baby…._

_I'm on the edge of glory_

_And I'm hanging on a moment of truth_

_Out on the edge of glory_

_And I'm hanging on the moment with you…_

The crowd stared at her really nice voice, not the jaw-dropping super squealing tone but it had a pretty beat to it and she knew when to belt out and when to sing in low pitches. She had an almost relatable voice that just made you stare.

"Thank you!" she said as she finished the song and flashed them a smile before getting down getting a loud sound from applauses and cheers mostly from her friends.

"Mikan!" her friends screamed as she headed towards them and they shared a group hug.

"Was it okay?" she asked.

"You were great!" they exclaimed.

She found herself looking at Natsume and they were caught in that awkward moment that when she looked, he was already looking at her. After a few seconds, he gave her a thumbs up and slowly approached her.

"What exactly happened while you to were gone?" Anna teased as she saw him making his way towards them.

"Nothing much." She replied with a secretive smile.

"You did not tell me you were childhood friends!" Aoi accused her with a pointing finger.

"I was going to, eventually" she said in a careless voice. "Wait, how do you know about that?" she asked.

"Hotaru." She simply replied.

"Hey." He said finally in front of her.

"So what are you doing here? This is girl's quarters." She teased while looking him in the eye with a playful smile. The others could see the chemistry between the looks of the two and they mostly found it sweet.

"I was just going to see if you were corrupting my sister's mind. One of us has to stay clean." He replied with a smirk which Aoi returned with a hit on the shoulder.

"Wow, she was pretty good, a LOT better than that Misaki girl." He got hit in the head by a shoe and the whole crowd laughed. "Women and their violent reactions." He muttered.

"Anyway, so our next singer is Akimura Rei."

They went off to their tents since it wasn't one of them. Mikan invited Kaname and Misaki since Tsubasa couldn't go since he was hosting. They were lucky to have gotten the biggest tent that could fit fifteen people and there were nine of them.

"This is so fun!" Anna commented at the party.

"What school do you guys go to?" Misaki asked.

"Alice Academy." Yuu replied.

"Oh, we graduated there last year. We're both freshmen in college at Tokyo University." Misaki said.

"Really, too bad we missed you guys." Mikan said. "Well, I did. They reached your batch."

"That's why you looked so familiar!" Koko commented at Misaki.

"Yeah, Misaki was very popular." Kaname said.

"Oh yeah, speaking about students, my cousin's transferring next week." Nonoko said.

"Guy or girl?" Ruka asked.

"Guy, about Aoi's age. He's a bit like Natsume, actually a lot like him."

"Natsume, it might be your soulmate!" Koko teased and Natsume whacked him in the head. "Ouch, you never know." He said.

"I hope he's hot." Mikan said. They all stared at her in horror. "What? I'm single." She defended.

"He's younger."

"By one year, so what? I dated a guy three years younger."

They all stared at her disbelievingly. "I was kidding." She said with a guffaw. She covered her mouth at the weird sound. "Sorry about that, you should've seen your faces. Please, I wouldn't date the guy if he was a month younger than me." She said.

"Why not?" Koko asked curiously.

"My mom always said that guys were immature. To make it equal, the guys has to be at least two years older." She explained.

"I object." Koko said.

"I would've believed the statement more if it came from Ruka or Natsume." Aoi remarked which all made them laugh and Koko frown.

"Hey, Tsubasa texted us to get out because he's all alone and the next activity is about to start." Misaki said as she read her phone.

They all got out and found him frantically waving before he got up the stage, "So guys, the next activity we're going to be doing will be a contest, a runway one at that."

He called on six volunteers and they forced Ruka and Aoi to go. "Go Ruka and Aoi!" Koko cheered as they awkwardly made their way to the stage.

"Alright so we have three, four, five and we need one more." He said and they suddenly heard a loud voice.

"Get out of my way!" she made her way to the stage and they all looked in wonder as it was Sumire. She was in a black tank top and a ruffle skirt by alice and Olivia. She gave the crowd a hair flip while the others stared at her disinterestedly but Mikan knew she was very pretty, no one could deny that.

"So we'll be starting. The order will be how you came up the stage, we'll give you five minutes to prepare and practice your walk. We'll be giving a sweet prize so you better do your best." Tsubasa encouraged them before getting off the stage.

He approached their group, "So I guess you two made friends without me," he said gesturing to Kaname and Misaki while trying to avoid Mikan's stare.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a deadly stare.

"I know you love me enough not to hit me." Tsubasa said trying not to cower.

She gave a laugh as she gave him a pinch on the cheek while getting surprised as Natsume pulled her away.

"She's not interested" he said in a deadpanned tone.

"Ah, I apologize. I didn't know you had a boyfriend." He replied.

"I don't, he's just being a jackass." She said with a smile and giving Natsume a hard nudge.

"So they go to Alice Academy too?" he asked.

"You two know each other?" Anna asked completely confused.

"Yeah, he's weird. I bet he didn't want to leave high school too." Mikan said knowing how fun loving his cousin was.

"Yeah, I was a total heartthrob. I'm sure a lot of people miss me."

"Andou, you were a total tool. A lot of people are glad you're gone." Hotaru said with a tone that showed she didn't care if he got offended.

"Sorry about her, she's naturally mean. She can't help it." Koko said and well, you wouldn't want to know that got him.

"I didn't know that girl was going to be here." Anna commented as she saw Sumire practicing her walk in her killer heels.

"Who exactly is she Natsume?" Mikan asked.

"No one important." He replied.

"Well, you don't seem to be that way to her." She remarked.

"I think that's obvious to everyone." He drawled out.

"Prick." She replied.

The other nodded in agreement, even the three who barely knew him. They all got a glare from him. Mikan just rolled her eyes at him and stuck her tongue at him. Tsubasa's timer rang which signalled the five minutes are over.

He gave them a cheeky grin before going to the stage, "I'll be back!"

As if they didn't know that…

"Okay so to the contestants, your prepping up time is done and I think that's enough; you really couldn't look more gorgeous. To the girls I mean, I'm sorry but I'm straight." He said which earned a laugh from the audience.

"So let's play the music!"

The music of 'The Maine' blasted through the speakers as the first girl walked out. She had a Cheshire grin smile on her face and she obviously picked the platform heels since she wasn't exactly the tallest of people. Unfortunately, it didn't work so much for her as she ended tripping and they fought to stifle a laugh that was threatening to erupt. An employee helped her up to the first-aid station.

The next one was Ruka who was in a white jacket that was left open that made some girls drool at his smexiness. He was able to pull off the look completely, having ran his hand his fingers through his hair at the end of the runway and sending them a smile that just made a lot of squeals and swoons.

The third along with the fourth were both guys, not quite as hot as Ruka so even if they had a pretty nice strut, they weren't exactly given much attention. They had hoped to gain some girls through joining but they unfortunately came after Ruka.

Aoi stepped out in a floral dress that she seemed to be forced to wear. It fit her very well and though she wasn't very blessed in the bust are, the tight dress made them seem a bit bigger than usual. The dress completely disagreed with her face, she had a poker face on but she had a great edge in her walk that just wowed you.

Lastly, was Sumire who had changed into a crop top and shorts with sandals that were very high. She gave the whole crowd a confident smirk as she strutted towards the catwalk.

"Gorgeous performance everyone, don't you think so too?"

The whole crowd screamed in agreement while some just cheered for the people they liked.

"Alright, now remember we're judging based on the walk. I will be saying the name of each contestant and the louder the scream, the higher score."

He put his hand over the first contestant who had to rest and unfortunately only got a few votes from friends who gave her a weak smile.

The next one was Ruka and that caused a lot of people to go deaf. People outside the party rushed at the entrance wondering if an emergency happened or there was a super popular celebrity inside but of course, they were not able to see and sulked before going back to their original locations.

The two guys got an average sound, mainly coming from the people who decided to judge the walk and they just gave them a smile before thinking why they didn't win.

Then came Aoi and a mixture of genders cheered for her. The girls liked her attitude and strut while the guys just found her hot. Lastly, was Sumire who got a lot of hoots from the guys while she gave them a wave in return.

"Alright, that was a tight call but I think we know who won, please shout the name out!" Tsubasa said and a mixture of names were called but it was obviously 'Ruka' and 'Sumire' that stood out the most.

"I guess we have a winner, Ruka come back up as we will give you your prize." Ruka came up with a bashful smile on his face. "So you and those awesome friends of yours, well most of them are awesome, get to win a model shoot with Japan's leading magazine, Storm. Good luck!" he says as he gives him the invitation.

Most of them looked happy, some petrified and Sumire just looked plain jealous.

"Can't you guys like exchange that brat with me? I'm so much better!" she said pointing her finger at Mikan who was about to rush to her when Natsume once again grabbed her arm.

"Don't, she's not worth it." He muttered.

"Awww, Natsume-kun I know you just don't want me to get touched by such a filthy thing." She said as a poor attempt of excuse.

"Yeah, keep believing that." Aoi muttered.

Once Ruka got down from the stage they all congratulated him.

"Yeah, we're going to be famous!" Koko yelled.

"We already are." Hotaru stated.

"True." Mikan agreed but she was pretty excited about the photoshoot, she hadn't been in one since she was in America and it was for some extra just because they were in the location.

"So when's it going to be?" Anna asked excitedly.

Ruka opened the envelope to see the date before Koko grabbed it in order to see it first. They all stared at him expectantly, "When?" was spelled all over their faces.

"Next week." He replied while reading the details.

"Oh, give me that." Nonoko said as she grabbed it.

"Too bad there are many of us so we won't get much solos." Mikan said.

"I don't really care." Aoi said as she went off to go do something they didn't have time to ask about.

Finally, the night ended and they promised to meet with Misaki and co. before they left to go home at noon. Mikan just fell exhausted at her bed but getting up to change into her tank top and cotton shorts. Anna and Nonoko just disregarded the whole idea and just fell to sleep.

As she finished freshening up, she just opened the mini fridge and grabbed soda and opened the television finding some good show, she ended up watching 'Terms of Endearment' and instead of falling asleep, she ended up crying when it was ending.

She only drifted to sleep after, her dreams consisting of a guy with raven-hair that seemed to do everything to confuse her.

**For some reason, I find this to be the first chapter that isn't left hanging, the next chapter won't be so eventful I am telling you now since it will be a transition towards a very significant chapter.**

**Review … OR ELSE I WILL _***

***Fill in the blank with something you hate to be done to you. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Twinkle Twinkle I'm a Star Chapter 12**

**A/N: Hey, guys! I'm sorry for the super late update. It has been two very busy weeks since our glee club were preparing to be awarded Hall of Fame but we had to present a song with choreography so I've been staying after school for the past two weeks and it was very tiring so I am so sorry! Thank you for all the reviews, really it was very invigorating.**

**Thank you for all your support in this story, I really am doing my best to make it as interesting as possible, I hope you like my update~**

_Beep Beep_

_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP!_

She woke up to Hotaru's annoying alarm as she tiredly looked at the clock. Great, it was five in the morning. She grunted and went back to sleep.

_Beep Beep_

_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP!_

"SHUT UP!" she shouted at the alarm only to find it was nine and they were supposed at ten so she wearily got up and finding a note from Hotaru saying,

Sleepyhead, by the time you read this we are at Koko's room since he's got the nicest one waiting for you to have breakfast and meet with the three. I'm giving you ten minutes since you read this and I'm seriously counting, how I know you're awake is for me to know and you to never find out.

She immediately rushed to the shower and scrubbed furiously in order to make it fast and still be as clean as possible. She got out and while drying her hair deciding what to wear.

She finally settled for a see-through floral dress while wearing a plain white dress inside with a pair of wedge sandals. She grabbed her sunglasses and wide brim hat along with her Dee bag and rushed off to Koko's room, knowing she was late by five minutes.

The moment she opened the door, she was received by no one. Once again she got a note.

You were late for five minutes so we went ahead.

So she went all that way for nothing, not that it was very far but she could've just went directly to the restaurant. She rode the elevator and was met with a guy that looked a lot like Koko. She probably stared at him weirdly since he gave her a smile.

"Let me guess you know Koko." He said with a playful smile. She returned while giving him an affirmative nod because she was seriously amazed at their alikeness.

"He's my cousin. Where is he exactly?" he asked curiously.

"At the restaurant, I'm Mikan by the way." She introduced herself while offering her hand waiting for him to shake it.

"I'm Kitsuneme." She was surprised since he ended up kissing it.

Suddenly, the doors opened and they were finally there. She gave him a polite smile as she got out and went off to go the restaurant. After five minutes of walking, she finally got to the front. She gave her name to the waitress and she was led to the table where they were talking happily.

"Oh, you're finally here!" Anna exclaimed as she patted the seat beside her and Mikan slid into it while greeting them with a smile.

They called on the waiter and she gave her order trying to ignore the lingering gaze of the waiter. She suddenly remembered something and asked,

"Koko, who exactly is Kitsuneme?" she asked curiously.

"How the hell do you know that guy?" he asked seriously not seeing the possibility.

"I bumped into him in the elevator." She explained.

"He's my cousin." He simply replied.

"I know that much but why doesn't he go to our school?" she asked.

"He's home-schooled. His parents are worried that he'll get expelled on his first week and their reputation would get ruined. It's all bizarre to me, I mean he's playful and all but he doesn't seem that bad." He replied.

"Weird." She noted and he nodded in approval.

After a few more minutes of chatting, their food had arrived.

Mikan gladly received her mini puff pastry cups filled with scrambled eggs as she grabbed her spoon excitedly and looked at the others who seemed satisfied as well and she took a heavenly bite. Every spoonful felt like an amazing feat.

She took a sip from her creamy hot chocolate which she rarely got since it wasn't exactly the healthiest thing around but she was on vacation so she was going to make the most out of it.

She looked at Natsume who was eating Pecorino Romano with Apples and Fig Jam Bruschetta and he seemed to do it more ladylike than any of them. He caught her staring and offered her some. She took a bite and it tasted just as good.

"Pig." Hotaru coughed out. Mikan gave her a glare as she was taking a sip from her apple mango smoothie and she gave her a worse glare back. She wanted to ask for some of her Seasonal fruit skewers with a dip of vanilla yogurt blended with orange zest but she knew it would come with something totally not worth it so she kept to herself.

As they finished eating, the conversation once again began,

"Do we have any homework?" Anna asked since she felt like she was forgetting something.

"We have some research needed for History." Yuu answered.

"Oh right, I totally forgot about that. Can you help me?" she asked with puppy dog eyes. He tried to conceal his flustered face but everyone in the table aside from Anna could see it.

"Of course, Anna- san." He discreetly replied.

"Oh, just call me Anna. It feels weird to be called that." She replied while he just nodded in return.

"So Koko, are you dropping us home or are we just going to get picked up at someone's house?" Ruka asked since he needed to make the call.

"Might as well drop you guys home, it's not so far apart anyway." He said as his eyes suddenly widened and everyone turned to where he was looking.

"Hey, Koko what's with the deer in the headlights look? It looks good on no one, most especially you." Sumire teased Koko as she swung her head to where Natsume was and gave him a flirty smile.

"Natsume dear, I haven't told you the good news!" she gushed and everyone just knew that her good news had to be bad news for them, and they were right.

"I've enrolled to Alice Academy starting this Monday. Isn't it amazing? We'll get to see each other everyday then you won't have to hang out with these brats, except for Ruka he's hot." She said as she babbled on not noticing the horrified expressions in their face.

"Why did your parents not tell me this?" Koko asked hoping she was bluffing.

"Well, it was only finalized yesterday but it's effective immediately!" Sumire squealed in happiness while they all just stared in dismay.

"Well, it's certainly nice to see you on Monday!" Mikan said just to show Natsume how nice she was. He gave her a 'well the nice thing doesn't involve her look' as she just gave him a smirk back.

"Of course it will, you on the other hand…" She said as if stopping herself from saying something but it was already obvious that it was an insult and she gave them a goodbye wave and walked off.

"Why does she keep popping by?" Koko asked and they all just shrugged in response but they still were annoyed by the fact that she was an incoming student at their once peaceful school, well not really, but somehow.

"Let's just ignore her since if we don't, we'll just be accomplishing what she wants; attention." Misaki said since it didn't really affect her.

"Of course, you can say that. You're not going to be seeing her five days of a week!" Koko complained and the other remaining high school students grunted in response.

"Yeah, we're awesome like that." Tsubasa said with a smile that just got him glares.

"Don't be hating on me." He stated before seeing a completely off-tune version of 'Hate on Me'. They all covered their ears.

"Oh make it stop!" Misaki wailed.

"Bloody horror!" Ruka said which caught him some stares.

"My ears are blocked by such evil noises created by my family's new product, the Sound Away. If you ever want to purchase one, please contact Imai Corporations." Hotaru said amidst all their suffering.

"Please get us one now!" Nonoko begged and she did so as she just coincidentally had them in her bag which seemed to small to fit all those but they know not to question in order to please her.

"That will all be coming out of your unlimited bank accounts." She warned before she gave them. They all furiously nodded, well Natsume just gave a curt one.

They all breathed a sigh of relief once they put it on. Surely, Hotaru's family keeps creating the most amazing things that just make life bearable, especially if you coexist with such idiots like, you be the one to fill up whoever.

Finally, he decided to stop and opened his eyes to see all of them eating peacefully with headphones in different colours, he had absolutely no idea what was happening, except it looked weird. He took off Misaki's and asked, "Why are you all wearing that?" he asked curiously.

She signalled to everyone it was over and they just gave him a secretive smirk before returning to their meal and he was left to wonder what all that was about. In a few more minutes, they were done and proceeded to pay the bill as they stood up to make their last stop, the hotel. They were just going to get their stuff and go.

"So we'll see you around." Aoi said as they were just waiting for their ride.

"Yeah, we'll plan something soon. Bye guys!" Kaname said as he waved along with the two as they rode in their cars.

"Well, that was a very meaningful trip." Anna noted as they were on their way back. The others nodded in agreement while some had already drifted to sleep (a.k.a. Koko, Yuu, Nonoko)

They weren't so excited about getting back to school on Monday but at the very least they still had one more day to prepare. Mikan knew she was going to be cramming tomorrow since she'd spend her remaining time sleeping.

When she had gotten home, her parents weren't around but she did receive a note from them saying there was an invitation given to her while she was gone which they put in her room. She rushed in to find the envelope and opened it only to find that it was a letter from a friend she had when she was in America and was inviting her to this convention they'll be having a week from now.

She decided to think about it for a while since she didn't exactly have the most flexible schedule. She was planning on joining some extracurricular to make up for some low test scores though she still wasn't sure which one. She opened her laptop to their school website to find ones she'd like. In the end she was able to narrow it down to two, it was either sign up for the school paper's gossip column or be a hall monitor since people feared her so it wasn't a very hard task.

She listed both into her journal in order to look into it on Monday. Since she hated idleness, she decided to look at her contacts and deleted a lot of them since they were already deemed useless since they lived on another side of the world.

By the time she finished, her phone rang and she looked to see it was from some unknown number.

"Who is this?" she asked warily.

"Me." The voice replied knowing she'd get it.

"Why do you have my number?"

"Other people." Natsume simply replied.

"So why are you calling?" she asked now just chilling.

"I just wanted to give you the honour of having my number in your cell phone." He replied in his all arrogant tone.

"Thanks, maybe I'll give it to your fan site, I'm sure they'd love me for that. Perhaps, it'd make up for all the jealously they've been throwing my way but you know what they say, your haters are your biggest fans." She replied taunting him in a threatening way.

"You wouldn't." he darkly replied.

"And why wouldn't I? I think they deserve to know your honourable number more than I since they surely know a lot more about you." She said returning his cockiness back to him.

"Then I will give your fanboys your number." He replied.

"I'd love that, I'm always looking to meet new people especially ones who like me." She replied with a smirk knowing he could probably guess that she was doing that.

"Stop smirking." He replied annoyed.

"Fine, chill, I won't do it. Hey, I wanted to ask. Are you like, in any extracurricular activities?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah." He said knowing that would irritate her.

"Of course I meant to know what those were too." She muttered.

"Sure, it would give you an advantage in stalking me. Don't need to deny it, everyone knows. I'm in swimming varsity and I'm editor-in-chief of the newspaper." And just like that, she was unsure whether to join the school paper. "You could go for the gossip column. I'm sure you thrive for that." Okay, she'll just go for hall monitor, maybe even cheerleading.

"Nah, I'd much rather be the one be written about. It would be pointless to write without anyone interesting." She defended.

"Whatever, I have to go now. Bye."

Only after he hung up the phone did she totally not see the point of that phone call but in the end, she saved his phone number in her phone and went off to sleep not caring that it was four in the afternoon.

"Mikan, it's midnight, why are you calling me?" Anna asked sleepily.

"As I suspected, I will be cramming for tomorrow so I need to know the research for Geometry since I totally cannot find it." She complained.

"I'll just give you the source of mine."

"Thanks!"

As she waited, she looked at her nails and realized it was a bit chipped because of the beach party. She decided to contact her personal nail specialist and made sure to wear closed shoes tomorrow.

She still had no idea why she committed to that whole nice thing, she didn't think it even had a quarter of a chance to work. Sure it always did in books, but this was reality. He really was forcing her way out of her boundaries and for some reason, she complies with it. As she printed the thing, she grabbed an apple from the fridge when she suddenly heard the front door open.

She rushed down hoping to see her parents but unfortunately, it was some thief who thought he had a chance considering the alarm by the security rang every time anyone entered so she just hid and waited. In a few seconds, he was pummelled to the ground. She stood up and smirked as he was unmasked.

She was surprised to see the familiar face.

"Kitsuneme, right? What the hell are you doing breaking into our house, I'm pretty sure you aren't poor." She stated.

"Wow, Mikan I had no idea this is where you lived!" he exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air.

"You still didn't answer why." She said tapping her foot impatiently.

"It was a dare okay, I lost a bet so they dared me to steal something from a house and they just picked this one." He explained.

If she hadn't made that annoying vow to Natsume, she still would've sent him to jail regardless of his relation to Koko she was sure he was going to get bailed out. She'd probably even make it her status just to let everyone know how rich she was because of their spotless security.

"Ugh, I don't totally believe you but I'm letting you go because of Koko, tell him he owes me a lot." She said as a relieved grin broke out from his face.

"Thank you so much!" he said over and over again. He slipped out of the house as soon as he came. She thanked the guards and let them go back to sleep.

Morning came and she slipped into her Warehouse floral dress with a Marc Jacobs cardigan and the cutest ribbon flats her father sent from Japan.

She got to school with all eyes on her since she caused such a scandal when they last saw her and expectedly, the principal called for her. She bid her friends goodbye as they all gave her a worried smile as she inhaled the wood inside the office and waited for whatever they decided to do with her. She was surprised to see Natsume enter with the principal.

"I knew you too would be partners in crime." The principal said as he massaged his temples.

"What's up?" Natsume said completely ignoring the principal's statement as he greeted Mikan.

"Well, I underwent a robbery last night." She said still annoyed since she lacked sleep.

"Really? What happened?" Natsume asked trying not to show too much concern.

"Nothing, he was caught within seconds, he just disturbed my evening peace." She said as she was about to tell him who it was when -

"Will you two stop ignoring me?" the principal asked waving his hands in the air.

"Sure."

"Whatever." Both turned to finally face him.

"Alright, you two are here for cutting classes the other day and well, for an unfortunate incident that I am very sorry for, Miss Sakura. It will not happen again." He said about the posters in which Mikan gave a cringe at the memory.

"So, what are you going to do? Doesn't it just make us even?" Natsume asked.

"It might be understandable for her Hyuuga but I don't see why you had to cut classes too." The principal reprimanded.

"He helped me feel better." Mikan said with a smile that just made the principal smile too. "I was feeling so down because of the pictures and he was there to cheer me up. He's a lifesaver." She said in a very earnest tone.

"Well, I guess that is make it better but don't get so careless again, this is a warning Hyuuga." The principal threatened as he ushered them out.

"So I'm a lifesaver?" he turned to her with a smirk the moment they got out.

"Oh please, I was only completing my nice advocacy. Otherwise, I would've told him you bullied me and stalked me through the day and he would've believed me." Mikan defended as she went off to her first class.

By lunchtime, she had a hard time ignoring the stares of all kinds sent her way both for the posters and her nice act. She didn't like it one bit so she stood on their lunch table.

She gave out a high-pitched scream that made everyone turn, both from surprise and annoyance.

"Okay, so I did that to get your attention, sorry. Anyway, I just want to say that it's very rude to stare and that what you all have been doing for the past periods and not that I hate the attention but can you just like, get over it? I know I was hideous back then and I was totally mean when I first came here but I'm trying to reverse both of that. So just please, have the decency to stop it." She said as she got down and ate her food as if nothing happened.

They all wanted to keep staring at her for her bravery but realized what she had just told them so they proceeded to eating their food, stealing glances of her beauty every now and then. It was amazing how quick she was to put that behind her since they knew that if that was them, they would've transferred schools in seconds. But she was here, eating as if nothing ever happened it was amazing and just almost inspiring.

School ended and Mikan felt the nice thing was going pretty well, nicely. She felt a lot lighter and people didn't cower in fear the moment she entered. Aoi pointed it out but she acted all clueless about it and she was sure that she didn't buy it but if it meant a better alpha, then she didn't care what caused it.

"Mikan, you're finally home!" her mom exclaimed and she rushed to give her a hug. She looked to her dad who gave her a smile as she was happy to have them back.

"It's amazing to be home!" Yuka said in satisfaction as she marvelled at everything having been gone for some time. "I heard that you went on a trip last holiday and you were with Natsume-kun! Oh, you should invite him over, we've sure missed him." She said as she rushed towards their directory.

"I think he's busy, I'll tell him some other time." She said knowing it was probably true and she wasn't ready for all the awkwardness and embarrassment her mom would make with all the albums.

"Fine, but make sure to ask him." Yuka said as she dragged Izumi off to somewhere Mikan wasn't bothered to know. "Oh right, before I forget we'll be going to dinner later so ready something nice. I'm sure you've had something ready for a while." Yuka reminded and went off.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: A long update! Well, a bit longer than the others. I wanted something to happen so yes, you will be receiving a big surprise. **

**Well, it's been a stressful couple of weeks, I guess it's all part of high school. I am so tired but I try to find time to do this since it cheers me up and stuff seeing your reviews so please do!**

**I sorta like this chapter since it's very eventful and tell me what you think of the new character, also if Natsume and Mikan's relationship is going too slow or fast and just stuff you want to tell me. I really do love reading them even if their flames as long as it's constructive because it means you really read it. **

Twinkle 13

Of course, she had something prepared. It would be embarrassing if she was caught empty-handed considering she'd been saving this outfit for a few weeks now. She stared at the outfit in admiration as she took a shower while planning what to do with her hair. She suddenly thought of Natsume and how he's helped her since she's been here, for the most part.

It was really great and he had no idea that he was actually a pretty nice person. Finally, her playlist ended so she slipped out and dried her hair. She grabbed her peach sailor blouse with blue collar and tucked it into her blue pleated skirt. So far, so good she told herself as she took a peek into her big mirror. She finally put on the wedge ribbon sandal she bought from Alexander McQueen that she just absolutely fell in love with at first sight. She finally decided to put half of her down and tied a blue ribbon on the upper part.

She finally took a long look at the mirror and bounced in happiness, she looked fantastic.

Afterwards, she just texted the others to say she'd be gone for the night and she probably won't be able to text them. The car for her arrived with a message that her parents will just meet her there. She gave the chauffeur a smile as he tried to cover his shock at her acknowledgement, he just smiled in return as she got in and attached her iPod to the speakers in the car and bopped her head to 'Sparks Fly'.

"..Hit me with those green eyes baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around…" she said as she sang along. Unknown to her, the driver clearly saw what she was doing and grinned at her child-like antics.

In a few minutes they stopped in front of Mikan's favourite restaurant when she was a kid, Kite Chamber. She hadn't been there for so long. How she missed their churros, it was her favourite comfort food and I guess it was good that she did the whole diet thing while they were in America otherwise, she'd be here every chance she could get to binge. It still looked as classic as before, just a change of furniture here and there.

"Miss Sakura, is that you already? My, you've grown up quite the beauty!" the receptionist remarked as she looked at him and saw that it was still Keshiro, her favourite waiter since she was young.

"Keshiro, is that you? I've missed you!" she said giving him a hug. The man felt like nothing changed, if only he knew how she was last week.

"Oh please, thank you. Your parents have just arrived a few moments before you. I shall bring you to them." He said with a pleased smile as he led her to the table in the middle. She gave her parents a kiss as they settled down and gave them each menus.

She immediately knew what she wanted to order, Apricot Chicken. Since she was a kid, that was what she had ordered and she missed that so she ordered that of course with the churros for dessert in which her parents gave a smile.

They discussed how she was in school and she decided not to tell much since she didn't want them fretting all over what happened last week since she's been doing her best to forget but not just forgive, she wasn't sure that Luna was done. She surely had something up her sleeve.

"So, you've been making friends?" her dad inquired.

"A lot." She replied with a smile as she cut into her chicken.

"That's great! I told you'd like it here!" her mom exclaimed is happiness. She just gave her a smile in return.

"That is true, I want to really thank you guys since I never thought it would be so much fun to be back here. I have made the greatest friends ever!" she commented as she gave them both a thankful smile.

"Ohm this is just delicious!" her mom commented at her Pork Roast Apple belly and as she gave Mikan a small part, she just moaned in agreement. Maybe she had a new favourite but as she took another bite at her chicken, she decided hers was still better.

The dinner lasted for an hour or so and every minute of it was filled with joyous discussion which made her realize how much she had missed them. She knew they were going to leave again for a while but it made her happy that they didn't really get in danger in any of their trips.

As she got home, she received a text from an unknown number. It was probably from one of those she's previously deleted. She opened it to see a very cryptic message.

_I'll be seeing you in a few months –R_

Well, she had no idea who R was so she wondered at all the possibilities. It wasn't really clear to her since she knew a lot of people whose names started with R. She decided not to ponder on it too much since it was still a few more months.

She slept with a smile on her face. It was all going to work out.

**Time Skip: 2 months later**

"Mikan, the poll is out!" Anna said excitedly.

"What poll?" she asked sleepily as she lacked sleep because she fetched her parents from the airport at one in the morning. She wasn't exactly in a lively mood.

"The anonymous popularity poll people vote for as the first semester is ending." She explained. "The one who holds it said it would be posted any time of the day at the bulletin board. We have to look!" she said as she dragged Mikan towards it. There were already quite a number of people there.

"Does it include the whole school?" she asked.

"No, just the junior batch." Anna replied.

"So the one who does this is most likely a junior." She assumed.

"Yeah, there are also categories for: most nice, hottest, cutest, most fashionable which I'm pretty sure you'll win, most spunky, beauty and brains, most interesting. It's quite a lot and there's also for the guys which is: hottest, nicest, funniest, sexiest, smartest and cutest."

"Wow, I wonder who got the top in the popularity scale." She wondered out loud.

Anna looked at her disbelievingly as if that was actually a question. The thing was, the only competition Mikan had was Natsume so it either way, she'd be the most popular girl. Last year, Natsume topped the charts beating Luna and she wondered if the circumstances would be the same again this year.

After a few pushing, pulling and well, some scratching they finally got to the front where they saw the top 10:

Mikan Sakura

Natsume Hyuuga

Ruka Nogi

Anna Umenomiya

Hotaru Imai

Youichi Hijiri

Nonoko Ogasawara

Aoi Hyuuga

Kokoro Yome

Yuu Tobita

"Wow, you topped Natsume!" Anna commented admiringly.

"Yeah, wow." Was all Mikan could muster but she was pretty happy that everyone in their circle go in.

"We've got to tell the world!" Anna said excitedly.

"Where's Nonoko?" Mikan asked.

"She had to go with Youichi to fetch someone at the airport." Anna said.

"Those cousins always seem to be off somewhere." Mikan said.

"True."

They let the crowd disperse a bit before they came back to the list to see the other categories.

Girl's Category:

Most nice: Mikan Sakura (in which she couldn't believe)

Hottest: Mikan Sakura

Most Fashionable: Mikan Sakura

Spunkiest: Aoi Hyuuga

Beauty and Brains: Hotaru Imai

Cutest: Anna Umenomiya

Most Interesting: Nonoko Ogasawara

Sexiest: Sumire Shouda

Boy's Category:

Hottest: Natsume Hyuuga

Nicest: Ruka Nogi

Funniest: Kokoro Yome

Sexiest: Natsume Hyuuga

Smartest: Yuu Tobita

Cutest: Youichi Hijiri

She was surprised to see she had won three categories and annoyed that Sumire got the sexiest one but she had to agree that she had a pretty hot bod. At the very least, Sumire ranked eleventh overall so she still didn't reach the top 10.

She felt a towering presence behind her which she knew was her best friend, she turned around and threw him a hug. Through the months since she's been here, he's been teasing her relentlessly but they've gotten close or at least, close enough to be teased and rumoured around by just about everyone. He returned before they pulled back before it became long enough to be classified as more than friends.

"Nice job on beating me." He said with a smirk. "The anonymous person that made this was probably a guy. I'm sure I topped you by at least ten guys." Of course, he had to add something before she could presume that he was going nice.

"Whatever, I'll pretend like you don't really feel jealous of me." She said as she stuck her tongue out.

"Yeah, keep doing that and you'll be late." Natsume said as he rushed to their first period in which she caught up and they barely made it on time. There were some suspicious stares and she realized Anna had gone ahead while they were talking as she saw the apologetic look Anna sent her way.

"I heard there's a new student." Nonoko told her as she took a seat.

"Someone we should be wary about?" Mikan asked curiously.

"Well, he's a senior and apparently he's hot. I barely caught a glance of him since so many people were crowding over him so I think he should be in our radar." Nonoko replied.

At this message, she remembered the text she received months ago that she totally forgot about. Maybe it was someone she knew, well she'd find out later. By lunchtime, she still hadn't seen the new kid and she was getting really curious as on who he was and if he really was worth all the fawning.

"Hotaru, have you seen the new student?" Mikan asked.

"Yeah, even before he came." She simply replied.

"Would you care to enlighten me?" she asked.

"It's too much of a bother to speak right now. Ask me once I'm done eating." She stated as she continued eating. The guys took a seat at their table as Mikan asked them if they've seen him.

"I have." Aoi replied.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Mikan asked.

"You didn't ask me." She replied.

"Well, info please." Nonoko said excitedly as she also wanted to know.

"He's tall, he has orange-y hair. I didn't get his name and his hair was all I could see." She informed them.

"Well, that's not much." Anna commented.

Suddenly, Mikan paled and grew silent. She dropped her fork which made everyone turn to her.

"Are you okay?" Natsume asked growing worried looking at the dazed Mikan.

Aoi shook her and it was only then that she grew out of her trance. She grabbed her water and took a big gulp and gave them a fake smile. "I'm sorry, I'm fine." She said as if convincing herself in the process.

"If you don't buy it, what makes you think we will?" Hotaru asked clearly seeing through her façade.

"Mikan, is that really you?" a voice behind them asked.

They all turned wondering who it could be while she just wanted to run away and disappear from the face of the earth. She never thought she'd see him again. She knew he was Japanese but she didn't think that the odds were so much against her.

She turned around and bleakly replied, "Yeah, it's me."

"Wow, you look really different. Good, different." He said as he approached their table.

She stood up and faced him only to see, he never looked better. She suddenly wanted to hide herself and dissolve from the face of the earth.

"You too." She said.

"Who's he?" Natsume asked not asking him directly while eyeing him dangerously seeing the effect he had on Mikan which he didn't like one bit.

"Reo Mouri, the top one richest kid in Japan. You're all thinking why that name sounds familiar. Well, his dad is a senator while his mom CEO of the top hotels in Japan, The Suite. In addition to that, before getting into politics, his dad invented the voice automated doors at a very affordable price which I presume you are all using at home." Hotaru explained and they just stared at him in all his richness, no pun intended.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you all." He gave his signature grin which made them see why so many people were crowding over him the whole day.

He got nearer to Mikan and to her surprise, gave her an almost bone-crushing hug. She didn't want any of them to be suspicious so she returned it with less force.

"I missed you!" he whispered and at that moment her fear turned to anger. She wanted to do nothing but give him a hard slap in the face but if it was anything, she was much better at playing this game than he was. She's been doing it practically her whole life.

"Me too." She said and she noticed how his eyes widened a bit and his lips turned into a smirk. They pulled away as she continued to smile.

"Yeah, I had no idea your family was top one." She remarked with a smile.

"I did my best to lay low in America." He explained. Lay low, my ass was all Mikan wanted to say.

"Oh, well do you want to sit with us?" she asked hoping so much he'd say no.

"Unfortunately, I haven't finished my grand tour of this awesome place. There is someone willing to do it with me but Mikan I wanted to ask you personally if you were available." He offered and the girls just wanted to exchange places with her.

"I'm feeling a bit tired, just came from PE, maybe some other time." She said as she sat back down.

"Well it was nice seeing you. I hope I'd be seeing you more in the coming weeks."

As he turned to go out of the cafeteria with some girl who was a senior, the whole table, well the whole cafeteria looked at her. She looked to Natsume for help. He gave the other tables a death glare that just made them return to what they were doing previously.

"I think we need not ask anything." Anna said as the others nodded in agreement.

"The nerve of that asshole." Mikan muttered as she held her for very tightly. Underneath the table, Natsume grabbed her other hand and squeezed it in encouragement.

"We met when I was in seventh grade, I had no idea he'd even recognize me. He was really cute then and he was pretty popular. He was so charming that everybody just fell for it, including me. And I was still a bit chubby at that time so it was such a surprise when he came up to me and befriended me. Probably bedazzled by the fact that someone popular was talking to me, I accepted it and let him ask me out. We went out on several dates as he finally asked me to go steady. He was my first boyfriend. Two weeks later, I found out it wa a dare and he was cheating the whole time. I was so stupid." She said wanting to kill him and squeezed back Natsume's hand.

They all stared at disbelief and guilt since they almost fell for it too.

"Wow, what a jerk!" Aoi exclaimed.

"Totally." Nonoko agreed while Anna just couldn't believe he'd do that to Mikan.

"Whatever, I plan on totally ignoring him. He can go playing everyone else, but it's not going to be me or anyone else in this table. He's not worth all the pain." Mikan said.

The guys were all silent through the whole ordeal but inside, they were already planning censored evil things to Reo since they grew close to Mikan and couldn't stand the fact that he played her. They all hated playboys which was why they did their best to be those non-stereotypical popular guys by not playing girls. They took the girls they dated seriously.

Natsume, on the other hand, was a whole different thing. While they were planning on embarrassing him very badly and inflicting much pain by beating him up, he was planning on killing the guy. He was one of the reasons why the girl had become like this, not that he hated it but it would've been much nicer had she stayed innocent.

"Oi, earth to Natsume?" Mikan asked as she's been attempting to get his attention for quite some time now. Finally, he shook out of his reverie and turned to face her.

"What?"

"You've been spacing out."

"I was merely ignoring you."

"Yeah sure." Mikan said as she stood up to throw her tray. Everyone turned to glare at him, he gave them a glare of his own but they knew he had no clue of what he just did.

"Nice job, Hyuuga." Hotaru told him snarky in her tone of voice.

"Nii-san, I don't think it's right to ignore your best friend after she just met her ex whose the bad kind, and that's me talking." Aoi said with a knowing look on her face.

They were so surprised at the sudden look of concern that flashed before his face as he stood up to leave without saying anything more.

"So I guess I'll clean up after him." Koko remarked at his unreturned tray.

"He really cares for her." Nonoko said noticing with an almost dreamy look on her face. "They're so sweet."

'Too bad they're not good for each other' was the thought running through most of their minds but they didn't want to mention it. Mikan wasn't exactly the nice girl that would change Natsume and Natsume wasn't the nice guy that would change Mikan. At the very least, he made her nice for her image but that shouldn't really have been the purpose of it. At the same time, Natsume just wanted Luna out of his skin and it didn't start really as them just helping each other.

Lunch ended yet the two still weren't back from wherever they were so we shall head over there instead of just wondering what could possibly be happening like the rest of the characters.

"Mikan, come one it's been half an hour and you're still not talking. You know I didn't mean it." Natsume said as they were under the Sakura tree.

"Besides, what you're doing is an imitation, the silent treatment was popularized by me." At this point, he was getting pretty desperate so he started getting out of character.

A few more minutes passed and the subject after lunch was about to end, Natsume just lost it.

"Fine, I'm sorry for being an insensitive jerk." He said as Mikan finally looked up from the very interesting grass that she'd been staring at the whole time.

"You are?" she knew just about how much it meant if Natsume said sorry. It was like someone getting through the final wipeout zone in less than five minutes, meaning it happened just about never.

"Yes, I am. You know that." Natsume said as he sat closer beside her knowing he was forgiven.

"Maybe." She replied as she got up and they headed towards their next subject.

When the day ended, the girls cornered her.

"What happened?"

"What took you so long?"

"You didn't, you know, did you? I mean some end up doing that out of frustration."

"Eww, Nonoko! I did not want that picture with my brother in it."

She couldn't help but laugh at their questions and at Aoi's comment but it was true. She couldn't really see them doing that in the near future, or in the future to be exact.

"You guys are just hilarious! Well, we took a long time because I spent about an hour just ignoring him and he got so frustrated—"

"You didn't?" Nonoko exclaimed.

"I'll go with what Aoi said, except he's like my brother. Anyway, he got so mad that he apologized!"

"I don't believe you." Aoi said incredulously knowing her brother the most.

"I know, I thought I was going deaf." Mikan said.

"It would've earned me a lot if he did it publicly." Hotaru said dismayed. They all gave her her a look of disbelief before they stopped at her house.

Once Mikan got home, her parents were packing for their donations to some typhoon that hit some country she couldn't be bothered to know.

"Hi." She greeted them while giving them a kiss on their cheek.

She headed to her room to finish homework. As she was getting done, her mom entered with some food. She looked at the fresh plate of cookies before getting one and munching happily at it's goodness and gooiness.

"Thanks, these taste gorgeous!"

"I know, we got it from a bakery in the city. One bite is a ticket to short-lived heaven."

"They should put that in the advertisement." She said as they laughed together.

"I heard your friend Reo is back in Japan and at your school." Her mom said having no clue that they dated and what he did to her.

"Yeah, he is." She replied trying to sound apathetic about it.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry I did not update during our 'long' sembreak, I was terribly busy. Anyway, I managed to finally finish this and well, I like it. It's just a bit of fluff and friendship. I hope you guys too. It's really amazing how you guys just review and stuff. I hope you continue to do so :D**

**So anyway just tell me how you think about it and point out any mistakes I may have made.**

**Love you guys to death!**

After that name, the rest of her mother's words just cleared out and it was only now she let herself reminisce all of the memories he gave her. She excused herself and locked herself in the washroom and once again just broke down.

She remembered all the pain and the rejection he caused her and how she felt like she was worth nothing. It really just stabbed her heart at how he rendered her to give out as if she was not even to be looked at. When she had went to school the next day from that incident, everyone laughed at her because of how gullible she was.

She was just so affected that she begged her parents to move, she didn't tell her parents the reason just the usual that she was bullied which was partly right.

She thrashed all over the place as she squatted down and cried again and yelled repeatedly incomprehensive words. All the rooms were sound-proof so her yells weren't heard. She unconciously broke the mirror in all her moving, she looked at her hand as it had a gash that was profusely bleeding. She rushed to open her cabinet where she pulled out her first-aid kit. She put a bandage and wrapped it hoping it would stop bleeding.

She got into her room with a tear-streaked face and was surprised to be met by the face of Hotaru. She rushed to her, almost by instinct, and cried hard on her shoulder. Hotaru knew just how much that hurt her and her efforts to conceal it so she ensured a trip to her house. She rubbed her back consolingly with a concerned look on her face.

"I hate him." She heard Mikan mutter.

"It's safe to say I hate him more and probably, Hyuuga too." Hotaru said as she continued to comfort her. She presented the brown paper bag on her right hand.

"What's that?" Mikan asked sniffing.

Her reply was the opening of the bag only to see Hotaru's mom's special chocolate fudge cake that she's always loved. It made her feel better in their youth despite Hotaru's insults. She saw Mikan's eyes return a bit of their sparkle as she set it down her coffee table with the spoon beside it. They settled into her bean bags as she took a bite and remembered why she was so in love with it. It was possibly the fudgiest cake ever.

"My only love." She heard Mikan mutter as she continued eating it. She gave a soft sigh of relief at the excitement of the girl beside her. She surely missed her and she wouldn't have her go because of some stupid jerk that broke her innocent heart. She had plans but she was waiting before conducting them and Mikan didn't need to know.

She checked her phone only to see a barrage of text messages from the other girls of an emergency sleepover and she very much agreed. She excused herself, though Mikan probably didn't notice her since she was so focused on the cake. She knocked on Yuka's door.

"Oh, Hotaru-chan is that you? You're so grown-up already." Yuka gushed.

"Thank you, Yuka-san."

"Oh please with your growth I'm feeling like I'm a senior citizen, I don't think I'm that old already; at least I hope I'm not." she said with a laugh.

"No, you are very much as youthful as before. I wanted to ask permission for a sleepover later since Mikan seems like she needs it."

"Yes, I have noticed she seemed a bit down lately. Could you tell me why?" Yuka asked, getting quite concerned since this hasn't happened for a while now.

"Just boy problems, nothing too big." Hotaru lied smoothly, if Yuka didn't know then that meant Mikan didn't tell and she decided to let Mikan tell the story herself.

"Oh okay, well sure you can stay here for as long as you like. Are the rest of your friends coming?"

"Yeah, all three of them." She replied.

"Great, I haven't met them yet. Well, I'm sure you have some arranging to do, I'll be seeing you at dinner!" Yuka said as Hotaru exited the grand room.

Hotaru told them that they could push through and was received with delighted replies. She called her maid to have her sleepover bag sent over in a ten minutes. The maid knew how precise Hotaru was so she quickly rushed the moment the girl hung up.

Meanwhile, she went back into Mikan's room who seemed like she just finished the cake and was now staring into mid-air.

"Oi." Hotaru said calling her attention.

"Oh, sorry I didn't even notice you leave. That cake forever and always will be divine. Can you tell me the secret?"

"Cat poo." Hotaru replied straightforwardly.

"What?" Mikan asked feeling the need to throw up because of the amethyst-eyed girl's serious tone.

"Yeah, have you ever noticed that I never ate it?" she asked.

"Well, you said you hated sweets." Mikan pointed out with a nervous look. So suddenly, Hotaru gave her a grin.

"I cannot believe you bought that, though with the amount of lack of healthiness it has, you might as well be eating feces."

"Ewww, stop saying those words when I just ate." Mikan said as she got up to the washroom to brush her teeth.

"By the way, everyone's coming later." Hotaru said not wanting Mikan to get a shock once the others arrive.

"By everyone, you mean Anna, Nonoko and Aoi?" she asked just to make sure, she received an affirmative nod and went on to brush.

In the exact minute Hotaru planned it to be, her clothes arrived as it was brought up and she changed into her silk pajamas. It was going to be a long and fun night she supposed. She remembered the last time they did this and the traitor that was with them. Rest assured, now they were just there as a circle of friends.

Anna and Nonoko arrived a few minutes later in matching clothes. They were both wearing studded tank tops and khaki shorts.

"Hey!" Mikan greeted as they were shocked to see her in a happy mood.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked warily putting her hand on Mikan's neck.

"Yes, I'm totally fine! Let's just wait for Aoi before we get this party started!" she whooped as she went on to change into her pink romper.

Aoi arrived in her shades and a tropical dress.

"What with outfit?" they asked.

"My mom thought it would be nice to theme my wardrobe so she packed everything for me only to find out it was all summer things inside but whatever." She explained as she took off the aviators and set down her duffel bag in the room.

They all sat down in their respective bean bags.

"I want to watch a movie." Nonoko commented. Hotaru added it into her tablet's to-do list.

"Pillow fight!"

"Mani-pedis."

"Fashion show using Mikan's awesome wardrobe."

"Internet celebrity stalking."

"planning of stuff to do next month."

"Eating fatty foods."

"That sounds exciting." Mikan said jokingly.

"Yes, it is. I do it all that time and I find it quite an activity, dah-ling." Anna said joining into the act.

"Then we shall?" Nonoko asked as she gave them her arm.

"We shall." Aoi said as they stood up and skipped down to eat some Tater Tots. (I've been craving for some the past week)

"Idiots." Hotaru remarked as she followed them down the stairs knowing of the high chance of one of them falling. It was good that they stopped midway since it wasn't exactly going to be nice if one of them happened to fall down the marble tiles. It would actually be quite bloody.

She ordered it from their personal chef who looked at her as if to ask if she wanted something grander and well, less fatty. She politely declined and told him the matter at hand. He gave a nod of understanding and went on to cook.

"What you guys watching?" she asked as she found them in front of their LCD television.

"Gossip Girl." They replied at the same time.

"I love their wardrobe, what's happening? I missed the first few episodes of the season since I was in adjusting mode and all."

"Well, Blair's pregnant, father unknown. Dan is being supportive friend to her, Prince has no idea. Serena meets Charlie and invites her to live with her while Nate is getting infatuated with some older woman and Chuck's gone numb. Oh, and Vanessa published Dan's book secretly."

"Wow, that's a lot of things." She said still not wrapping it up fully.

"Yeah, you know Gossip Girl wouldn't be Gossip Girl without the extreme drama." Aoi said and they all nodded in agreement.

"Yet that's why you love it." Nonoko added and they agreed once more.

They sat down and watched as breakups, confusion and betrayal ensued and got Mikan thinking about her own life and how it was also dramatic. At the very least, she assured herself, she wasn't pregnant nor did she have a stranger pretending to her cousin at least as far as she knew.

"Tater Tots!" Anna exclaimed as it was brought to them in a huge bowl.

They all munched happily while watching the episode. After the whole drama show was done and over with, they went up as it was time to do their nails.

The room they went into was made just for a makeover pad.

"Why didn't we go here last time?" Nonoko asked in awe.

"It was still getting set up. Take a seat." She said motioning for them to take a seat at the LazyBoy lounge chairs seated next to one another. They sat and the people who'd do their nails entered with a whole assortment for their nails.

"Mikan-sama, what would you prefer today?"

"Oh, could you do polka-dots? Like navy blue and white, I think it's totally adorable." She said as the girl gave a meek nod and went on to do it.

Nonoko wanted yellow and black stripes, like a bee. Aoi went for silver thunderbolts with a black background. Anna, on the other hand, picked pastel pink with white swirls and Hotaru just went for a French manicure.

In the time that they were waiting for their perfect nails, they were all reading different editions of Vogue. Along with that, was some calming music in the background, while their backs were just reclining very relaxingly.

"Care to enlighten me why you guys threw a surprise slumber party?" she asked them as she kept note of the cute Gucci trenchcoat she found on one page.

"We thought you needed some cheering up, besides we haven't had a sleepover in a super long time." Anna explained.

"So true." Nonoko said in affirmation.

"I also need a new manicure." Aoi said jokingly. They all stared at her and laughed at the irony of her statement.

In a few more minutes, they finished up gazing at their newly made nails and at how they made the perfect choice because of how awesome it looked.

As they were going out, they all gave their respective tips and asked Hotaru what was next on their agenda. She gave a quick look at her tablet and said, "Fashion show."

With that, three of them gave an excited whoop while Aoi and Hotaru just hoped it would be over with. They all rushed to the humongous walk-in closet.

"I'll be the host and whatnot." Hotaru said not wanting the bother of keeping on changing clothes.

In the end, for some weird reason Hotaru played a recording that spoke in that awesome show host voice. Mikan strutted in a Carven tartan plaid dress with the hottest Alexander McQueen ankle booties, she just looked very gorgeous.

Next up was Aoi who looked stunning in a white corset she could barely breathe in along with DAKS checker blazer with Theory shorts and a beautiful pair of shoes from Jeffrey Campbell.

After that proud strut, Anna followed looking just so adorable with a lace skirt from barneys and a knitted top from Lanvin and pulled the whole outfit together with flats from Givenchy.

Lastly, came Nonoko who was most eye-catching because of her leather shoes from Gucci but her Rebecca Taylor jumpsuit really made her look so hot.

With the amazing looks, they took a group picture and immediately posted it on the net feeling so good about it. They gave a laugh afterwards as they each set it as their profile picture. They collapsed on the sofa as they took off their sky-high heels and just stared at the ceiling.

"That was fun." Nonoko said.

"Very" Anna agreed with a big smile.

After that, they proceeded with their other planned activities and ended at about one in the morning and they just fell on the duvets out of exhaustion. Within minutes, they were fast asleep all snoring lightly as Yuka took a peek a bit disappointed she hadn't a chance to talk to them but they looked pretty nice and she was glad to have Mikan such supportive friends.

"Morning guys!" Anna cheerily greeted them as she looked at the clock which said that it was just about lunch time. "Wakey wakey!" she said waking them up since she met with Yuka when she went outside and she introduced herself and they got off quite fondly. She told her to wake them up for lunch.

"Ngh." Was the only sound heard from Aoi who rolled over and pulled the blanket closer to her. Meanwhile, Hotaru got up and headed for the bathroom mumbling something about feeling dirty and snoring idiots. Nonoko and Mikan completely ignored her and just pursued their sleeping activity.

She opened a drawer Mikan showed them the night before and pulled out her secret weapon. She grabbed earmuffs and pressed hard on the button. They all shuffled to their feet panicking at the same time covering their ears from that deafening sound. They all looked at her in annoyance and tackled her to the floor, all the while their hair were such messes.

She struggled as they tickled her and didn't seem to plan on stopping in the near future. Hotaru came out asking what all the ruckus was about andthey dragged her into it but stopped once they received Hotaru's deathly glare along with her phone which contained embarrassing photos of them the night before.

"Ok, we're done." They commented raising their empty hands in the air. They prepped themselves up and within minutes, they were ready and went down for breakfast.

They found the table filled of all the breakfast food they could possibly consume. It was consisting of eggs, ham, bacon, pancakes, bread, waffles and syrup. It was so drool worthy as they took a seat and proceeded to their sumptuous meal.

Yuka came down in the middle of their munching and greeted them all a good morning. They couldn't help but stare at her timeless beauty. She had these sparkling eyes and just the smoothest hair that they all resisted to touch.

"Hotaru, how's your mother?"

"She's doing quite fine, Yuka-san. She asks if you ever need a solar powered microwave, it would be a pleasure to give you our newest invention which hasn't been released yet." She remarked.

"Oh, that would be quite nice. Oh, I haven't met you two! I'm Yuka, Mikan's mom." She said with a friendly smile. She was returned with happy greetings and great compliments.

"You're all so nice but I have to go to a meeting, I shall be seeing all of you soon I hope!" she said as she bid them goodbye.

"Your mom's so pretty!" Anna gushed.

"I know." She said with a proud smile since it was almost an indirect compliment.

"What time are we leaving?" Aoi asked since she had a family thing going on later that night.

"Let's just get prepped up and we'll be done before lunch." Nonoko said.

"Just have lunch here, I don't want to eat alone." Mikan said and they nodded in agreement.

A few hours later, the girls all left already and she was left alone again so she opened up her laptop and typed up Facebook and looks to see that she had a lot of friend requests, she scanned through them since more often than not, she had no idea who these people were but one in particular caught her eye. She clicked the account just to make sure she wasn't getting sleepy or seeing things.

_Reo Mouri_

_Status: Glad to be back in Japan, surprised to see changes, good changes _

Yep, it was him. She was suddenly faced with the dilemma to accept or not. if she rejected it then he might think she hasn't moved on and can't handle having him as a friend even just in the internet. If she said yes then he might assume that she likes him or that all is forgiven and done.

She decided to ignore it first when her phone rang only to see a message from Natsume.

_N: you doing anything?_

_M: Why? Missed me already? ;)_

_N: Maybe, can we meet?_

_M: Aww, I know you did, where?_

_N: at that coffee shop by the park_

_M: sure, be there in half an hour_

_Natsume Hyuuga has logged out_

_Mikan Sakura has logged out_

She opened up her closet and went for an electric blue Phillip Lim v-neck sweater paired with rust leather shorts and went with flats from Juicy Couture since it wasn't a very formal place. She grabbed her Hermes orange bearn wallet and drove off.

She inhaled the lovely smell of donuts and coffee as she opened the glass door and the waitress greeted her with a warm smile since they saw each other a lot since this has become her spot for studying when the finals came. She looked around and found him on one of the maroon leather couches and settled beside him.

"So what's this secret meeting for?" she asked looking him in the eye with a playful smile.

"Why do you assume this is a secret?" he asked raising an eyebrow at her smile.

"Because I'm the only one here."

"Can't we hang out?"

"Never thought you'd want to hang out with me, but okay. Did you order already?" she asked as she was about to get up.

"Yep, for both of us." He replied pulling her back down.

"What'd you order for me?"

"White Chocolate Mocha." He answered while reading a magazine he found on the table.

"I don't think I've heard of that one before but it sounds yummy."

"It's new." He said explaining very thoroughly.

"oh."

When their orders arrived, she immediately found that she like the new flavour and would definitely be trying it out again on her next visit. She faced him and seriously asked.

"What's with the invitation?"

"What's with the sleepover?"

"Oh, I didn't know you wanted to come." She teased. "But really, why?"

"The reason why I asked the question." Suddenly, Mikan's face darkened.

"Oh, him. Why are you making such a big fuss over him?" she asked drearily.

"I'm sure you know why." He remarked as he took a sip from his black coffee.

"Nice shoes, by the way." She remarked to his new Nike air.

"Stop trying to change the subject."

"Okay, chill. You know I love fashion and I was just complimenting you which you should be happy about since I don't do that much."

"Whatever. Details now."

"Okay Mr. Big Shot. What else is there to know?" she asked knowing he'd have done his research.

"What happened between you two and why the hell is he back in Japan?" he asked frustrated.

"To cut our long story short, he played with me and no, I have no clue why he's back nor do I really care. I will just ignore him as much as I can."

"Good. I will help you do that."

"I'm sure you will." She said as she grabbed his hand and gave it a firm grip and leaned on his shoulder getting a feeling from all their support that it will all be alright.


	15. Chapter 15

Twinkle 15

**A/N: Hiya guys! This is my early Christmas gift and I am so sorry that it took so long since my last update, I seriously got hit by the lazy bug. Anyway, I will try to update one more chapter this break of mine. So, this chapter has a lot of fluff that I really like~**

**I hope you guys find it even just a tad bit interesting. In my excitement to post this, I wasn't able to proofread this so I apologize for all the grammar and spelling mistakes.**

**Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

She was just arranging her nail polish by shade when she heard a knock at the door. She skipped to it as she opened it to find it was the maid telling her she had a phone call. She dismissed the maid and went on to answer her furry black telephone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's me." A very familiar but unwanted voice said.

"Who exactly are you looking for?" she suddenly asked making her voice a bit different.

"Mikan, please." He replied.

"Oh, she's not here. I'm so sorry, she had to go out with some friends but she'll be back." She said in a fake cheerful voice hoping he wouldn't call again.

"Sure, that's fine." He replied in a suspicious tone. "So who exactly is this?"

"Oh, right I'm El, a family friend of the Sakura's." she replied as if she really was this girl.

"Okay, I'll just call later."

"Of course, who is this by the way?" she asked just to complete her cover.

"It's Reo, Reo Mouri."

"Okay, I'll tell her a Reo Mouri called." She said as she hung up and let out a huge sigh of relief only noticing now that she'd been holding it in.

She shook herself out of her reverie and finished her arrangement. Once she was done, she checked her list of invitations and found three set for that night. She picked the masquerade as it seemed fun and she knew the girl who was throwing the party and she seemed nice and rich enough.

She thought of her wardrobe options as she took a bath. She finally settled for a black bodycon dress with a faux fur jacket and gold strappy sandals. She grabbed her gold mask and went down to tell her parents she was going.

"What time are you getting home?" her mom asked via cellphone.

"About one at latest." She replied.

"Well, stay safe." Her dad reminded.

"I promise, I'll keep in touch." She said as she bid them goodbye and got on the car and it suddenly came onto her that this would be her first party alone. She hadn't invited on of the girls to come with and she almost felt lonely but it was her me day and she decided she'd just tell them all about it tomorrow.

She arrived at the party in full swing. There were strobe lights all over the place and a lot of girls were already dancing on tables while the guys smirked in satisfaction. It all seemed quite normal to her that eyes turned even when they still had no idea who she was because of that confidence she knew she exuded and probably because she did her best to look hot, not just to impress everyone but also herself.

She knew she couldn't just sit alone in a corner but she couldn't dance right away so she settled for the bar at the left. She was just about to order when she received three shots, she looked at the bartender who just gave her a shrug not bothering to say which of the guys around had gave her.

She took one as she felt her phone vibrate. She picked it up and heard a voice,

"I knew it was you." As she heard the voice, she felt a pair of arms slink around her. She turned to see Ruka standing beside Natsume.

"Hey." She greeted both of them and offered the other two, they accepted it and took it before they all took a seat nearby.

"How'd you know it was us?" Natsume asked pointing to his mask

"I know your vibes." She replied. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Same answer." He replied.

"Well, I guess we should have some fun then. I'll be seeing you guys around, I plan on seeing this whole thing and just party wild." She said to them with a smirk as she grabbed a drink and stood up to circulate the area.

"You going to follow her?" Ruka asked with a teasing smile.

"What's with that creepy look?" Natsume asked not answering the question since he was actually considering it. He's been a bit overprotective lately but you know, as a brother, or at least that's what he says.

"You can go follow her if you want, I can have fun on my own." Ruka suggested as he leaned back and analysed the crowd.

"It's fine, she can handle herself." He replied as they proceeded to get more drinks.

Mikan was just dancing along to the catchy beat of 'The One That Got Away' when she opened her eyes only to see she was very much surrounded of guys with masks and she just gave them a naughty grin and continued dancing and having fun. She stopped as she heard a loud sound coming from the left side of the room. She opened it only to see a famous Japanese celebrity coming in.

He gave them a big smile as he was handed the microphone and he greeted everyone with a shout.

"Having enough fun yet? Well, I'll be here the entire night making sure you'll have a pumping time!" he did so with much energy which caused them to jump in excitement. Mikan shouted as well, knowing this was a pretty fun party.

As she continued dancing, she noticed the celebrity making it's way to their part of the room. She knew his eyes were on her and she felt it all the more when he sent a taunting smile her way. She had heard of this celebrity and just how he passed through parties all the time and got home either wasted or with a girl. She knew it'd be better to steer clear from him but she wasn't exactly in the right mind.

She gave him a flirty look as he finally arrived in front of her and lightly took her hand as he gave it a light kiss. She knew his kind of personality and knew just how much he'd be trying to get her to go home with him but she wasn't up for that. She never was.

"Hey, I'm Yuki." As if she didn't know that, she thought.

"It's a masquerade so I'll keep my identity a secret for a little while longer." She said as she put a finger to her lips and slipped away hoping he wasn't following her and decided to look for the two.

Unfortunately for her, he felt intrigued upon her presence so he did follow her and her body.

Natsume was currently surrounded by girls who were pressing against him in the dance floor. He was openly ignoring them and trying to find Ruka who he lost in the crowd. He found a masked brunette who he was pretty sure was Mikan but was a bit startled, though he did not show it, when he saw that the popular douchebag of an actor was high on her tail. He stood up ignoring the hands that grabbed his wrists as he did so.

He rushed in order to get to her earlier than that total asshole. Unfortunate for him, a hand grabbed his jacket only to be faced with some overly made up hoe that tried sending him a smile which just looked like a distorted frown.

He shrugged her away and was annoyed to see he had reached her first and was obviously flirting with her while Mikan tried to take it in stride giving him smiles here and there but it was obvious to Natsume that she wasn't into him and knew she had given up the whole flirting ordeal, with assholes at least.

"Seriously, I just got a new crib. It's got a Jacuzzi, if you like those kind of things."

With that line, Natsume casually walked over and put his arm around Mikan. She gave him a squeeze in the hand as a sign of gratitude.

"Who's this?" Natsume asked.

"Some guy." Mikan said trying to ask meek. "Mr. Hyuuga, you're not going to fire me, are you?" she asked while giving him puppy dog eyes.

At the sound of the powerful name, he became rigid.

"Yeah, it was nothing. Well, I'll guess I'll see you around." He said as he rushed off to play with some other girl, one without such high connections.

"Thanks." She immediately said at his escape as she gave him a hug.

"No problem but I guess you owe me now." He said with a smirk. "I am your boss after all."

"That was the first thing that came into my mind." She said as she gave him a playful punch.

Suddenly, the upbeat music changed to a slow one with a whole lot of memories in it. They looked at each other for a really long time before both chuckling. It was _Eternal Flame_

"Not going to happen."

"Not with that song." Natsume said with a smile that was rarely seen by others but people whom he valued and Mikan cherished every moment he did it.

It was sort of their song. When they were young, their parents listened to the song a lot and they were driven to it too and sang with it. There was one time, Natsume stole his dad's radio and they listened to the song in the tape over and over again until the tape was ruined and they were reprimanded. It was also the song that was playing when she was just about to leave but she hated it at that time because she remembered Natsume but now, the memories just made her laugh.

She once again looked at him, now with his arm outstretched.

"You really want to?"

_Close your eyes, give me your hand darling._

"It would be a nice addition to all our memories with the song." With that, Mikan took his hand and was gently lead to the dance floor where they were close together as the crowd would not let space happen. She had her head on his chest and closed her eyes wondering if it was all a dream. If she had not done that, she would have seen the thumbs up Natsume sent Ruka's way who was with the DJ watching the two dance and just how perfect they looked for one another.

_Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming, or is this burning an eternal flame?_

"They together?" the DJ asked in an interested tone.

"Nah, they believe in the whole friendship thing." He replied with a sigh.

He watched the contented look and was amazed at the change that had overcome him ever since she came. Although, he knew that he still snuck some drugs in but he did it so rarely now compared to his almost daily use from before. He just wished it would stay that way.

"So why are you being sweet all of a sudden?" she teased as they spun around with the other couples.

"I just think it's been awhile since you've seen this side of me." He replied with a smirk

"By awhile, you mean never?" she asked with a smile as she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, I've been feeling a bit iffy these past few days."

"I know." He remarked as he spun her around.

Finally, the song ended and they settled into a booth where Ruka had moved to when they weren't looking. He gave them a smile as they got the drinks he ordered and downed one quickly.

"What a party." Ruka commented.

"Yeah, totally." Mikan replied in agreement. She suddenly felt her phone vibrate and looked to see it was Hotaru asking where she was. She replied her location and was surprised at the news that Reo was apparently there but she would never really know why Hotaru knew that, she always just did.

"Well, speak of the devil and he shall come." Mikan muttered. Natsume was able to catch it and grabbed her phone to read the message. Upon reading it, he almost instinctively put his arms around her in comfort.

"We're not going to let him near you." He whispered into the meal. Ruka was getting a bit annoyed at being clueless so Natsume informed him and he also gave Mikan a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, okay?" she said as she gave them a smile that convinced them otherwise.

A few more drinks and a fun dance from Mikan and Ruka, they were good to go. By the end of it all, she had forgotten the message and walked out with both of her arms around the two good-looking men with her.

"I'm so hyper I wanna die!" Mikan yelled with a bottle in hand.

"Ok, I think you've had just a tad much." Ruka said as she took it from her hand.

"Meanie, give it back!" Mikan said reaching for it. Natsume, sensing the truth in Ruka's words, carried her bridal style despite her attempts of resisting.

"Yeah, we'll be having a lot of fun." The voice was from someone behind them which caused them to look back and see someone with a black mask and brown(?) hair. With that built and voice, they had a good guess of who it was. It was a good thing Mikan was pretty drunk so she didn't really notice who it was.

Reo was standing with a girl about their age who had worn just about nothing and had her hands all over him and laughing to just about everything he said. He noticed the looks he was getting and turned to their direction and was almost certain as to who the people were behind those masks.

"Nogi and Hyuuga, if I'm not mistaken?" he asked with such confidence that if Natsume wasn't carrying Mikan, he would've just sent him a punch in the face, the one that would last at least a week.

"I wanna go home!" Mikan said holding onto Natsume knowing he'd bring her there.

"Mikan?" It seemed as if Reo suddenly forgot about the redhead beside him and approached them. Mikan wasn't really focused but she did see him.

"Oh no, it's that monster. Take me away!" she screamed. At this statement, Natsume and Ruka just couldn't help but grin at the 'monster' who looked horrified at the name.

"Of course, your highness. Come on, Natsume the driver's just arrived."

They took off with a drunk and hyper Mikan leaving a a dumbstruck Reo Mouri behind.

"What happened?" Mikan asked having a massive hangover while looking at her alarm clock which indicated it was just about lunch time. She looked to her bedside and saw a note with a hangover cure. There was a note attached to it;

_Hope you get over that hanging I'm sure you're getting. Call me when you're up. You should've seen yourself last night :D_

_-N_

She smiled at his note but couldn't remember much of the previous night's events. She thought that 'Last Friday Night' would be a perfect song for the moment. She downed the drink and stumbled into the bathroom where she looked to see a perfectly messed up face with her makeup all over the place. She grabbed some cold cream and tissue and was recovering as she was taking off the makeup while remembering the previous nights.

She tried hard not to blush as she remembered the dance where Natsume was just surprisingly sweet and couldn't help but giggle. She didn't remember the trip home, she was probably too drunk and feel asleep.

She took her shower and was comforted at the smell of pasta as she made her way down for lunch. She opened the door to find someone she wasn't expecting to see.

"Misaki!" she ran up to give her cousin's fiancée a well-deserved hug.

"Mikan, I missed you so much!" she returned the hug with more force that she almost carried the brunette.

"When did you get here?" she asked while doing a quick survey. She looked the same, still as pretty with her hair in a fishtail braid and while wearing a black and white Marni tie-neck dress.

"Just this morning but you were too hung over to notice." She teased looking at her cousin who seemed a lot better and nicer than their last meeting.

Mikan took a seat as another plate of Salmon En Papillote was served as Misaki proceeded with her story.

"Well, whether you like it or not, I'll be here for a couple of months." Mikan's eyes widened as she chewed faster in order to reply.

"Really? That's great! We'll have so much fun." She gushed thinking about all the shopping trips and sleepover she can join Misaki to.

"I know but the reason why I'm actually here is because Tsubasa's returned with me since his parents just got divorced and he's here for his mother."

Mikan gave a frown at this even if she's never met the parents knowing that it probably hurt. She gave a nod at Misaki's pout as she urged her to continue.

"Anyway, I talked to Aunt Yuka and she thinks that it's a good idea since they're not here most of the time. I'm sure we'll get tired of each other but let's enjoy this as much as we can. So it's your turn, how have you been these past few months? You look like you're having fun." She commented at the smile on her face that seemed to be there for awhile now.

"Yeah, I turned out to like it here a lot more than I originally planned. I have a whole set of friends who I just love so much and I even found a childhood friend."

"Which one?"

"Natsume Hyuuga."

At this statement, Misaki choked at her drink.

**A/N: So yes, it's a bit of a cliffhanger, just because I felt like it**

**So once again, happy holidays~**

**P.S. if you can, please pray for my sick dog (MJ) because he's got parasites in his tummy and I'm hoping he'll get well ASAP**


	16. Chapter 16

"As in THE notorious Natsume Hyuuga?" Misaki asked with wide eyes. She had been in Japan ever since and had just left Tokyo to go to college so she knew the people who had to be known.

"Yes." She replied unsurely. She knew all about his reputation but she also knew how much he tried to change just for her so she wasn't taking any insults from the family.

"Seriously? He seems like the kind of guy that doesn't even have a childhood." At this statement, Mikan just wanted to hit her knowing he had his reasons and how she had gone bad for awhile but they still accepted her for it.

"You shouldn't judge, everyone makes mistakes." She said as she took a bite from her meal.

"Well, he's surely made a lot of them." she said with a knowing look at Mikan.

"That's it, I'm leaving." She had no idea why she was so ticked off but she pulled her chair out and walked out of the dining hall in a very annoyed way.

She slumped immediately in her bedroom and accidentally hit her head onto one of the cabinets. She rubbed her head upon instinct and dragged herself to the refrigerator to get an ice pack. She felt that her hangover wasn't quite over yet. She sat herself upon her pink bean bag and heard a knock and knew it was Misaki.

"What?" she asked a bit bitterly.

"I'm sorry about- What happened?" she asked surprised at the ice pack on Mikan's head.

"Nothing." She replied as she rubbed harder on her head while her eyes were facing everywhere except Misaki.

"Come on, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. That boy has never had any good in this city and I'm just afraid that that's going to happen to you too." She said in a sincere voice.

"Fine, I'm sorry too for being oversensitive. It's just that he's been trying his best to change but a lot of people still judge him because of his past." She said as she stood up and they shared a hug.

"So do you have any plans for the day?" Mikan asked as they settled on her furry bean bags.

"Well, Tsubasa and I are going on a tour tomorrow so I'm not doing anything for the day." Misaki explained while scanning the really nice room her cousin had.

"So where do you want us to go?" Mikan asked excitedly.

"Well, what do you think are the places I need to see that Tsubasa won't take me to?"

"The mall!" Mikan said in her sing-song voice.

In a few minutes, they were ready to go and just in time, Mikan received a text from Natsume asking her where she was. She invited him to go with them so that she can introduce him to Misaki so that she can see that change. He agreed and told her she'd be coming a bit later.

"I have a bit of a surprise coming." Mikan said with a smile.

"I'm almost scared."

"You should be." The brunette teased as they were fixing their hair in the car while listening to 'Call Me Maybe' which was such an easy song to get addicted to.

"This is crazy but here's my number so call me maybe." They sang with giggles as Mikan noticed that Misaki was really one of a kind. Her statement style reflected with her customized neon blue bag that had an M.H. symbol embossed in the middle so it would never be mistaken as anyone else's.

"You looking at my awesome bag?"

"Yeah, it's really gorgeous. Where'd you get it?"

"It was one of Tsubasa's many birthday gifts. It just scares me a bit how good he picks clothes to give me." At the statement, Mikan couldn't help but laugh since Tsubasa was filled with such crazy antics and she just felt so happy for her cousin and almost felt jealous at their perfect relationship.

"So it seems you've begun anew." Misaki noted with a grin.

"You're as weird as random as before." She replied with a casual wave.

"Seriously, you seem to be glowing and well, you seem to be under much better influence here because seriously those friends of yours before were just, not right for you like yeah."

"They weren't, aren't ever going to be my friends." Mikan said while frowning upon the memories.

"Looks like we're finally here!"

The glass doors seemed to welcome them with the opening and it was bliss for both of them. there seemed to be an event going on since there was a big stage in the middle and a lot of people were crowding.

"What is that exactly?" Misaki asked curiously.

"It looks like some sort of modelling show." Mikan said from her point of view.

They went closer and sure enough, there was a show promoting a new brand named _Liberty. _The two liked the looks that were being presented and Mikan couldn't wait for their branch in the mall to open. It was mostly vintage looking pieces that were very versatile mixed with a bit of rock n' roll which made her want to call Aoi just to let her see. Instead, she decided to just note it in her phone for future reference since this day was for her and Misaki only.

"Ok, let's go and look at some shops!" she said as they didn't bother finishing the show since there were too much people already. They first headed towards the shoe shops wherein platforms just seemed to be trending so the two got at least two pairs of those. While walking and going through shoe sizes, Mikan told her of her so far amazing experience in the school and how everything was just seemingly falling into place.

Misaki felt so glad for her younger cousin to finally have found true happiness, in her hometown most especially. She listened intently and laughed at the makeover conducted by her and Hotaru. She couldn't wait to meet these amazing girls and thank them for the love they have given her since Misaki knew just how much she needed it.

"With your long stories, I noticed something interesting."

"Is it something I'd rather not know?" she asked with an unsure smile.

"Well you know, just that aside from your fun trips with friends, just about the other moments you feel so happy about is when you're with the Hyuuga boy." She said with a smirk that made Mikan nervous as to just what her dear cousin was going to do about her newfound information.

"I'm not going to deny that because he's my best friend so of course, I'll have fun with him." She defended as she shook her head at whatever was being assumed by the girl beside her.

"Whatever you say. I've known you ever since so no matter how much you try to deny some things I will not believe a single word of it." she said with a smile.

"I don't like him that way." She tried to say as calmly as possible but there was still a high pitch inserted at the word 'like'.

"I was referring to the time you said you didn't eat my macadamia cookies." Misaki replied devilishly as if saying 'Gotcha!' as they entered an accessory shop.

"Are these bangles stunning or what?" she asked as Mikan let out an inward sigh as she seemed to forget about her previous goals.

"And no, I'm not letting this go, I'm just giving you time to see just what you two have even if it's never going to be as amazing as what Tsubasa and I have." She said proudly as she went over to the bag section.

After what seemed like a week's worth of walking, the two decided to take a break. Mikan picked the newly opened tea shop since tea seemed to be a growing fad but she was yet to see the specialty in it so as she got in line, Misaki left to find them a table since the place was almost packed.

She felt her phone vibrate and it was an unknown number.

_Hey, it's Reo. Why are you avoiding me? Can we meet? I'm in the mall and I know you're here too so it's perfect. I'm at the café at the basement._

She wanted to throw her phone at the insane amount of guts this guy had. He actually expected her to be the one to go to him after everything? Well, he's dead wrong. She blocked the number immediately and waited patiently in line.

"Welcome to Tea Time~ May I take your order?" the average-looking guy said with a nervous smile because of the face she gave when she read the message.

"I think I'll get the Banana Caramel Milk Tea and the Honey Cinnamon Milk Tea." She said as she handed her money and grabbed the two cups and headed off to where Misaki headed off to. Their wooden tables seemed cozy enough and the eyes were fixed on her until she found her cousin reading through a magazine she probably picked up and placed her drink in front of her as she took her seat.

"So what's with the grumpy face?" Misaki said as she took a sip and gave a nod of approval. "Definitely coming back." She noted and turned her attention back to the brunette.

"Just got a text from a blocked person in my life." She said and also took a sip and grabbed a packet of sugar behind her, feeling for a bit sweeter taste since everything else seemed to be bitter.

"I'm not even gonna ask."

"Thank you and honestly, I don't think you'd like to know." She said as she looked at her phone and how much she wanted to throw it out the window.

"I don't think you should be gripping your phone that hard." Misaki winced feeling for the phone.

"Just superbly annoyed."

They discussed a bit more about events that were happening and even a little on politics as their parents didn't want them to get involved in such things.

"It's good we never wanted to be part of those stuff."

"I have enough politics to deal with in school." Mikan said as she flipped her hair only to see a classmate caught staring. She gave him a smile and he turned away blushing.

"Who was that?"

"Some kid from school." She replied and smirked when she saw him texting furiously at his friends most likely. She didn't think they'd buy it though so she paid him no heed.

"You seem to be quite the heartbreaker nowadays."

"Puh-lease, I haven't even dated a guy since I got here. I'm on an unspoken boy-fast. They haven't been doing much good for me anyway."

"Then what's with Hyuuga?"

"I told you we're just friends."

"And I'm sure that with the rest of you school's population, we're not buying it." she said with a knowing smile that Mikan gladly ignored.

"Whatever, you haven't even seen us together. If we're not fighting like cats and dogs, we're silently planning on killing one another."

"Mhmmm, just how Tsubasa and I started out."

"Ewww, don't compare us to the two of you. That's like totally different."

"Okay, no need to go all defensive on me. Fine, I'll meet him and then I'll judge though I doubt my idea will change. I know you."

In a few more minutes, they got up and went around a little more. They even went into the arcade just to get a photo for keepsake. The saleslady at one shop seemed mesmerized and rushed to all their needs because of the vibrance the two exuded. They gave her a good tip because of her willingness and she wanted to ask their names as she seemed to have gained a girl-crush.

"She was so cute." Mikan said as they were going out with two paper bags each.

"Yeah, I just wanted to pinch her."

"She would've probably run off." Mikan muttered but Misaki heard it and gave her a nudge.

"What? It's true. You have strong hands, it might've bled or left a permanent mark. I honestly feel bad for your kids."

"Why am I with you again?" Misaki asked while shaking her head.

"Awwww, you know you love me."

"I didn't have much of a choice." She replied with a shrug.

"Whatever you say." She teased a bit more before heading to _Kiru _which was Misaki's favourite shop ever since.

"Look at these platforms!" Mikan gushed at the purple and black velvet pumps that caught her eye, along with a few other things, when she entered the store.

"I gotta have this dress!" Misaki said as she grabbed a metallic silver dress that reached mid-thigh. She went right ahead to fit it and it amazingly, fit her body like a glove.

After that and a few more gushes here and there, they proceeded to the counter to end their long shopping spree. As Mikan handed out her credit card, she was a bit annoyed at the saleslady who was openly ignoring her because of a flirty gaze towards the entrance. She turned to just where her stare was and quickly understood.

"Oi, could you make it a bit faster?" Misaki complained, not noticing the two intent stares that was directed to the guy leaning by the entrance.

Finally, the saleslady shook out of her trance and got Mikan's credit card. Knowing the attraction the girl had for the hot guy, she approached him to give him a warm hug.

"Natsume! Took you long enough." She said with a playful nudge.

"I knew you didn't want your spree cut by me, or anyone for that matter." He replied as if to say he knows her that well.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to her."

As this conversation was happening, Misaki finally decided to look and saw just why Mikan seemed to like him so much, along with the once again dumbstruck cashier, with just one look. He gave off a superior yet mysterious attitude that girls were just so easily struck to.

"Misaki, this is Natsume. Natsume, my cousin's fiancee Misaki." She quickly introduced the two and got her paper bag. She wanted to stick her tongue out at the girl but that seemed to be too childish and she got teased for her immaturity enough by Natsume.

"Hey." He said with a nod since he didn't do well with new people but he felt that he needed to be just a bit more courteous towards her since she was related to Mikan.

"Well, it's good to finally meet you. Mikan has been talking about you the whole day and-" If Mikan hadn't gone to cover her mouth to stop her, she would've went on embarrassing her without any second thoughts.

"You don't have to do that. I know that you talk about me all the time. It's nothing to get embarrassed of." He told the brunette with a smirk that just made her want to shove her shoes up his throat.

"You see, why you shouldn't say those sort of jokes to him? It makes his ego larger, I swear one day he's just going to explode." She told her with the whole hand gestures that just made him grin.

"I thought you two were friends. Mikan, since when did you learn to insult friends?" Misaki teased and Mikan pouted because the two were ganging up on her, quite obviously.

"You can forget staying at my house." She threatened and Misaki quickly gave her a hug.

"You won't do that, you love me." She stated before moving ahead.

"Where exactly are you going off to?" Mikan asked as soon as Natsume thought of it.

"Well, I think it would be better to get to know each other more at home so I was just about to go to our parking space."

The two saw the logic in her words and followed her when Misaki suddenly turned around and flashed him an 'i-don't-trust-you-so-do-what-i-say' smile. "Natsume, since you're such a dashing gentleman, could you please hold our shopping bags?We've been handling these the whole day and our arms are just so tired." She whined as he gave a soft sigh and took all of their paper bags which weighed a ton but he sucked up his pride and strode off as if they weighed like a feather.

"So?" Mikan asked her while holding her breath.

"Well, he's certainly blessed in the looks department." In which, the brunette couldn't help but roll her eyes too. "Oh, you know it to be true. Could use a little more help socially but I guess he's better than expected so fine, you have my approval."

At the statement, Mikan gave a smile of relief and felthappy for Natsume's seemingly out of character behaviour but decided not to question it if it gave him a thumbs up from her closest cousin.

"Which car are we going to take?" Natsume asked at the entrance of the parking lot.

"Can we just take yours since we can just have the driver take ours home?" he gave a nod and they followed him to the black Porsche that waited pristinely.

He opened the doors for them and Mikan tried telling herself it was just because he was getting Misaki to like him, even if she was not sure why. She probably needed to tell him that her cousin had a fiancé who she would not leave for the world.

"So Misaki, how's Tsubasa?" she asked with a smile and sent Natsume a message that she was very much taken.

"Oh same old, same old. He does want to see you though." She said with a smile. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Anytime. I do miss my senpai. Gosh, how is the wedding planning coming?" she asked giddily.

"Well, we're taking it slow since we don't really want to get all stressed out." Misaki explained while looking at the schedule of the plans.

"Oooh, lemme see!" Mikan immediately scooted beside her and thus, the rest of the trip was spent on wedding plans and Natsume wondering why he'd agreed on coming along to this entire thing.

**A/N: So sorry I took the longest time to update, laziness and writer's block is the worst combination possible. It seemed like inspiration was nowhere but yes I'm back since it's our summer and I hope to update as often as I possibly can. **

**Xoxo.**

**Bubblefizz001**


	17. Chapter 17

Chappie 17

The engine was turned off by the raven haired lad who was very near to being pissed because of the two who seemed to have just used him as a driver. He parked the car and felt a vibration in his pocket as he opened the back door for the two to get out.

"Thanks!" Mikan said as she headed upstairs waiting for the two to catch up.

"The room?" Natsume asked as he knew full well that was Mikan's next favourite room, her own being the first.

"It's still so early." Mikan complained as she shook her head and continued up the stairs with Misaki.

Natsume looked at his phone which had plenty of missed calls from dealers who were all expecting him back in the game sooner or later. It was a hard fight but looking at a picture of Mikan by the entrance, he knew it was worth it.

Instead of drugs, he now went for alcohol which was at the very least legal and he still tried to limit his intake. He went to the Sakura's fridge and grabbed a bottle of beer before heading upstairs to the two who were probably still gushing about the wedding of her cousin who seemed to be quite wary of him but he was used to that because Mikan was probably the only one who wasn't.

It took time for them to come to terms with one another but he knew that Mikan trusted him. He didn't want to believe Ruka when he said they complemented each other but he now saw that it was true but not in the ways everyone else saw it, they were friends and that was it. It was just too weird to date her since a relationship for him was quite confusing, he didn't like being confused so he wasn't about to get into one of those.

Giving a sigh at the change he had undergone, all for her. It was so surreal but he didn't regret it. He knew it was good for everyone.

He went up the stairs and opened the door to see the smile, he loved so much, one of the things that got him going without the high because it's radiance was enough for him. Just in time, Mikan was showing Misaki her closet which was her pride and joy and he definitely knew that. She was pointing to her shoe collection when she saw him come in.

"Finally, what took you so long?" she said as she dragged him in while Misaki smiled knowingly at the hand that held his arm.

"I'm sure you wanted me to take longer considering I've heard this whole tour thing for more than a dozen times." He said with a smirk as she put her arms on her waist.

"I don't think it's reached a dozen, you exaggerating human."

"Well, at the very least you acknowledged the fact that I'm human." He teased because of the fact that Mikan always complained about some gossip sites comparing him to a god.

"Gosh, you two are so adorable. I hope you catch the bouquet at my wedding Mikan though I don't think your parents want a marriage so soon so please control your hormones."

With that statement, two pillows were thrown directly at her head. "Denial is always the first stage. Been there, done that." Another two pillows were shot at her but she learned to dodge.

"You think you can hit me, I am the great-" she was cut off by another pillow by Natsume.

"I think you wanna stay in my good side kid. I've got a pretty big influence on the other kiddo." Misaki said threatening him for Mikan.

"I am so sorry but sometimes the she just goes bonkers. I think it's from hanging out too much with Tsubasa." She joked apologizingly.

"I think it runs in the family." Natsume teased which also earned him a pillow.

"Great, I'm going to run out of pillows before the hour ends." Mikan whined as she picked them up to return to her massive bed.

"Yes, we're capable of that much evil!" Misaki said cackling. They both looked at her, wondering why she wasn't sent to the mental with her seemingly insane mind.

"I suggest we move." Mikan whispered as she crept out the door with Natsume with Misaki who was mumbling to herself with a sinister smile.

Mikan crashed down her bed and just smiled at the greatness of this day. It was very random and weird but it was those moments she loved most because it was those times that she felt that she didn't need to be perfect but those moments were only reserved for some select people. She never imagined she would spend it with Misaki and Natsume together but she was glad that they got along and that was out of the massive list of people that she needed to introduce to one another.

She heard a knock on the door and gestured the person to come in. Expecting it to be Misaki, she threw a pillow but wanted to hide after seeing that it was Hotaru she had hit directly in the face.

"You owe me a lot." Hotaru murmured with blank eyes that just scared the life out of her.

"I know." She said hiding behind her blanket.

"As to your unspoken question, I am here because I had heard of Misaki's arrival. Tsubasa asking me to do something for a very reasonable price so tell me where she is."

"In her room most probably, the third guest room if I'm not mistaken." Mikan said as the amethyst-eyed girl spun and left the room as if she was never there.

Shrugging off the absurdity of her best friend, she opened up her laptop to read some fashion blogs and get some inspiration for her coming outfits. It seemed that pastels were trending and it was a bit too demure for her taste but her closet was stocked with them but her closet was stocked with everything so she wasn't too surprised.

She felt her phone vibrate as she was fixing up her rings by color as she just answered it as she was getting bored.

"I finally got an answer." A voice that she despised so much said as she wanted to throw it but didn't want to give him the satisfaction that he still affected her.

"I'm so sorry, I have a terribly busy schedule." She replied while wondering what she could do with the neon orange ring that was given to her by some ghastly person that obviously didn't have any taste.

"I'm sure you do but is there any chance you can fit me in there?" he asked so sweetly that she just wanted to go into the phone and tape his mouth shut knowing that she shouldn't be thinking about the sweetness of his voice.

"I'll see, I'll text you after I take a rain check." She shut the phone, hoping he'll get the loud message that he was unwanted.

She let out a big sigh and wondered just how long he was planning to stay. She really wanted him out of this place ASAP but she didn't want to ask for anyone's help since it was her problem alone but it wasn't going to be easy as having found out that his family was the richest in Japan which made him the hardest target. She decided to get a bit of sleep before getting too into scheming about it.

"So Hotaru, are we really doing this? I can't believe she bought that." Misaki said disbelievingly.

"I'd be offended by her belief of that but she knows me well enough to know I'd be capable of that." She replied with a smirk as she opened her laptop and laid out the plans.

"We need to get him out of here fast." Misaki said knowing the hurt Mikan couldn't see for herself.

"I think that part is the easiest to understand. We are dealing with a guy who practically has the country in his hands. We need a plan that's fool-proof."

"Why didn't you invite her other friends?"

"They don't know the whole story, we might go a bit overboard and they won't understand it." She explained as she opened a folder.

"And so the logarithmic function of the equation..." As the teacher went on and on about the topic, the students pretended to get and hoped that the test was multiple choice.

"I'm guessing that you get it." Mikan said looking to Natsume with desperate eyes.

"You know I do." He said with a smirk that just seemed normal to most but she looked a bit further and knew that it meant that he'd help her.

"Thanks. Tomorrow, your house?"

"Nah, Aoi will overdose her teasing skills again. Yours would be fine."

"Ok then." She brought out her phone secretly and set the study session into her schedule.

He looked at her and wondered just how tomorrow would go. It was usually a tedious thing to teach her but he had fun teasing her cluelessness and her dad always seemed happy with the fact that he was teaching her, not that he cared much what he thought.

He knew he was falling into a pit of trust that he hasn't done with anyone other than Ruka and Aoi and yet, it felt different with her like he didn't want to tell her everything because he fears just how much he'll lose once he does but at the same time, another part of him says that she'll accept him no matter what and maybe it was time for him to risk coming clean.

**A/N: Very short update I know, I just felt that I had to post this in order to feel inspired to update more. I haven't been on lately I know, it's just that senior year has been such a whirlwind and all, I can't promise a nearby update, I'll probably still do it in our sem break which is in October or if this goes well, I'll have it up late September, I'm seriously sorry.**

**Love lots, bubblefizz001**


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